


Iero Hauntings, Inc.

by personalized_radio



Category: All Time Low, Bandom, My Chemical Romance
Genre: A Little (a lot) Cheesy, All Time Low are butlers, Alternate Universe - Steampunk-ish Psychic, Bob The Silent Giant, Crossdressing, Demons, Dewees The Business Man and Frank The Philanthropist, Frank Iero: Psychic, Gerard is really stressed, Hauntings, M/M, Smut, Souls, Supernatural - Freeform, Supernatural Elements, implied noncon touching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-07
Updated: 2014-08-07
Packaged: 2018-02-12 05:36:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2097606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/personalized_radio/pseuds/personalized_radio
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the sudden death of their grandmother and their parents leaving for a world tour, Gerard and Mikey Way move to the country to escape not only the rejected witch who might have caused Lady Way's death but also the evil presence that has taken residence in their home. The new mansion is beautiful, but it soon becomes apparent that the evil has followed Gerard. When Mikey falls ill and is taken to the city to recover, and with only the last of his loyal staff to stay with him, Gerard is at his wit's end.<br/>Until the unexpected arrival of three men, known as Iero Hauntings, Inc. who say they hold the answer to the Way Mansion's demonic problem.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Iero Hauntings, Inc.

**Author's Note:**

> this is for maggie again :)
> 
> so this is super cheesy, super cliche, and super dumb. I hope you like it maggie ;u;
> 
> everyone, feel free to ignore or read at your own risk of overcliched haunted house fic.

“Geez, it's a little creepy, don't you think?” Jack nudged Mikey’s shoulder. Gerard rolled his eyes at them both, but Alex was hiding behind him a little too.  
“I like it.” Mikey replied, much to Gerard's glee.  
“Me, too.”  
Alex sighed loudly, frowning before he clapped his hands, “Alright, guys. Let's go make sure the staff has cleaned up properly before we let these two in.”  
Gerard smiled, watching his butler, Alex, herd Jack, Mikey's butler, and Zack and Rian, the only staff from the old mansion that were taken with them, inside the huge (admittedly creepy) mansion.  
It was big but short, about four floors up but it wasn't terribly long. It looked…Stout. It had character.  
“Think Grandmother would've liked it?” Mikey asked after a moment of them just standing there, looking up at the grey walls of their new home.  
“…yeah, I think she would have loved it.” Gerard wrapped his arm around Mikey's neck, smiling, “We did good, Mikes. I know it. It feels…cleaner here.” He broke off for a moment before continuing.  
“Maybe we escaped.”  
“I don't know…” Mikey shrugged, wrapped his own arm around Gerard's waist, “But all we can do is wait and see right?”  
“Always the optimist.” Gerard smiled, “Think mom and dad will like it if they ever show their faces again?”  
“Fuck them, I don't care.” Mikey said promptly. After their grandmother’s death, their parents had rushed off (guilty? Grief-ridden? Neither of them knew and neither cared all that much either) to explore the world. They'd handed the reins of the family business (a law firm, and a few smaller businesses, though none of the Ways’ were lawyers anymore. Their grandmother was the last lawyer in the family.) to Gerard at the age of twenty five, and disappeared. Gerard couldn't fuck up too badly, he hoped, since most of the important aspects of the firm were handled by the company’s head, Mr. Toro. The Toros were longstanding friends of the Ways and their son, Ray (Gerard’s best friend) had actually just ended his interning position at the office just twenty miles from the new (well, he says ‘new’. It was built quite a while ago, but it was just breathtaking and Gerard knew his grandmother would have loved it) mansion.  
Gerard couldn't help but glance around carefully, make sure he caught no sight of the women he knew to be dead. He missed his grandmother deeply, still felt so sad every time he thought of her, but it was slowly getting better and he had recently been able to picture her face and sketch it out without feeling like a hole was being torn in him.  
“I know it's not really moving season, we're leaving the city a little early,” He turned, took Mikey’s hands in his so he could apologize properly.  
“Shut up, Gee.” Mikey stopped him, rolling his eyes behind his glasses, “Don't be stupid. I care for society about as much as you do. If you're looking to be punished for escaping that crazy women and that crazy house, then you will certainly not find it here. Now come with me, let’s go find Alex and Jack and drive them crazy.”  
Gerard laughed, but he was relieved. He still remembered the touch of Lady Edwina on his arm, his face, her fingers on his lips before he'd jerked away, her body against his before he'd managed to shove her away and run. He wanted to curl in on himself just thinking about it but instead he just thought of the new house, too far away from Lady Edwina to find him (not without lending credence to the rumors Mikey and Jack had made absolutely sure had found their way to the right circles about Lady Edwina trying to get in with Mrs. Way through Gerard) and safe with his brother and his friends (though to the society in the city, the four of them weren't Gerard and Mikey’s friends, just their servants. Just thinking about it made Gerard’s head steam).  
They settled in fine. The house really was beautiful, shined to sparkling inside and furnished with lovely furniture. Gerard had detailed the interior design himself and so the whole house had a very gothic, yet bright tone to it and he just loved it. He and Mikey were good housemates, dined together and spent a lot of time together just reading or playing music. Occasionally, Ray would come visit him when he had a few days off work and the three of them would play some of the seedier music they used to sneak out to hear in the city’s underbelly, and it was nice. Gerard had a private studio that only he and Mikey ever went into and he first filled it with his grandmother’s face, then with commissions and a few sketches of his own, paintings and charcoals, colored works. It was the most creative he'd ever been.  
And then the screaming had began.  
They'd been in the house for months, it was nearing January, when the first noises were heard.  
Christmas had gone over well, they and their four closest staff (the Toros, minus Ray, just assumed that the brothers liked to have two attendants each, but it was more that Alex and Jack enjoyed having Rian and Zack with them and so did Mikey and Gerard) had visited the city to spend the eve with the Toros and go to midday mass (for appearances, Gerard and Mikey were non-practicing atheists and Ray was close enough to not care about church as much as his parents) before they returned to their home late that night in a carriage. Christmas morning had gone normally as well, the two of them opening each others' presents to each other before giving Alex, Jack, Zack and Rian their own personal presents (and receiving their own) and handing out the token presents to the rest of the staff.  
It started around three days later.  
Gerard heard them first, what sounded like screaming. He’d rushed out of his room the first time, in only his nightshirt and the knife he’d begun sleeping with since before they left the city, only the hallway was empty. It was impossible, because the screaming had been right outside his door. He’d run into Mikey’s room across the hall, terrified that the voice (though it’d been feminine) had been Mikey. Only Mikey was sleeping in bed. He’d decided he’d imagined it and returned to bed, confused and a little scared because screaming in the night had been how it started at their last home as well.  
The next night, it happened again. Mikey heard it too this time and together they roamed up and down the hallway, looking for the women screaming, except there was nothing. Eventually, they retired to Gerard’s room and clung to each other, hiding in each other as the invisible women screamed, joined by hundreds of others. Jack and Alex found them the next day, sleep deprived and pale.  
When they told the two what had happened, Alex and Jack shared a scared look.  
“Gerard,” Alex began, “This…this is how it happened the first time. You don’t think it followed us right? We did everything the father told us to.”  
“I’m afraid, Gee.” Mikey whispered, not getting out from under Gerard’s thick blanket.  
“It’ll be okay, Mikes. We’ll…we just, we’ll ignore it. If we just pretend it isn’t there, it can’t hurt us, right?” Gerard looked at Alex and Jack desperately.  
They just nodded, looking sad and scared and like they’d do anything to make the lie that had just passed Gerard’s lips truth.  
-  
The scream happened in the middle of the day this time.  
Gerard almost didn’t move to see what the problem was, but it clicked that it was still daylight and this screaming had come from the kitchen, and that it was Zack’s voice.  
As he rushed through the halls, dressed this time but without a weapon, he offhandedly noticed that no one else had come running. He met Mikey outside the kitchen doors and they threw them open together.  
“Zack!” Gerard called, just before the stench hit him and he reeled back, hacking, “What the fu-”  
Everything was rotted. Zack clung to Rian, four baskets of wrapped meat, fruits and vegetables all rotted black or spoiled straight through, crawling with maggots and flies littered the floor. The counter was also covered in rotted food, the white flour with the ball of bread dough in it was speckled grey and purple, the dough had gone hard and off-colored and the half-sliced meat had turned rancid. Everything in the kitchen was spoiled.  
“Why were you screaming? Where is everyone?” Mikey grabbed Gerard’s hand, because this was new. It hadn’t gotten worse then the screams and the slamming doors at the last house.  
“W-we were just coming back from the market.” Rian said haltingly, arms around Zack comfortingly, “We were walking up the drive when the whole staff met us. We thought something had happened but no one would say anything, not even the head man.”  
Jack nodded, frowning as he looked over the meat. He picked up the story in a steadier voice, “We thought something had happened. They all looked…hollow. It was scary. So we ran up here to make sure you were okay, and we walked into the kitchen and suddenly the food we’d just bought,” he trailed off, “It was fresh, I swear. Alex and I both checked it all over before we bought it. There’s no way it went that rotten between here and the market. It’s barely an hour away. The meat hasn’t even thawed all the way yet. Hadn’t, at least.”  
“We don’t blame you.” Gerard said. His voice sounded far away to his own ears, “This isn’t your fault. It’s mine.”  
“Shut up, Gee.” Mikey immediately bit out, “It isn’t you fault, stop saying shit like that.”  
“But it is, Mikey. It’s my fault. Our staff is gone, off to God knows where, they’re probably in danger if that witch has anything to do with it. It’s all my fault, I should have-”  
“Should have what, Gerard!? Let her rape you?” Mikey smacked his shoulder, “Let her touch you like she wanted to? It wasn’t worth it, not to me.”  
“Not to me, either.” Alex said, finally speaking up. He looked at Gerard, face set and determined, “Letting her do that to you wasn’t worth it. Let her try what she wants. She’ll never get you, not if we’re here. She can’t scare us away, she can’t magic us into leaving you. Just let her try.”  
Jack nodded, “Yeah. She might have gotten rid of the others and maybe all the food in this place, but she isn’t getting rid of us. We’re with you for life, Gerard.”  
“Let her come at us, I’ll fight her.” Rian spoke up, sounding stronger.  
Zack nodded in agreement, “She won’t touch you again, Gee. I swear my life on it.”  
Gerard looked at them all and just tried not to cry.  
“I’m going to call Ray. Maybe he can…help or something, I don’t know.”  
“Will he even believe us?”  
“I’ll make him believe us if I have to tie him to a chair and let him smell this stench.” Mikey wrinkled his nose, then gave their butlers a pleading look, “Think you can clean this up while I call Toro?”  
“Yeah, don’t worry. We’ll sweep it all out, put it in the pig trough.”  
Gerard wrinkled his nose, “Is it really healthy? For them, I mean?”  
“I dunno.” Rian shrugged, “The beast master,” Jack rolled his eyes, “isn’t here so like…I guess it’ll be okay. He always says pigs’ll eat anything. Time to find out.”  
He pulled his apron over his hands and motioned for Zack to grab a sack from the pantry. Even the bagged supplies had rotted off. Gerard hadn’t even know processed wheat could go bad.  
Mikey tugged on Gerard’s hand, “Come on, Gee. Sit with me while I try to call Toro on this forsaken phone.”  
Mikey wasn’t the best with the telephone, he just didn’t have the coordination for the rotary and keeping track of what he’d already dialed and all the nonsense, so he let Gerard take care of it and then took the pieces when Gerard had asked for the Toro residence.  
Ray had been Gerard’s best friend since they were both young boys, growing up together in the city. They had used the firm as their personal playground, had gone through their awkward teenage years together, were still going through their awkward young adult years together. Ray had always been there for Gerard, through the first turn of this craziness, and Mikey knew he’d be here for this turn too. He’d never doubted them for a moment, not when he’d seen the genuine fear in both of their eyes when they’d told him of the screams at night. Mikey only hoped that having Ray help them could ward off whatever evil was plaguing them now.  
“Michael Way, asking for Ray Toro.” Mikey said.  
Gerard leaned forward and Mikey tipped the ear piece so they could both hear when Ray answered.  
“Mikey? Geez, I never thought I’d hear you on the telephone.”  
“Shut up, you.” Mikey smiled, “Listen, some…weird shit is going down.”  
“…weird shit like last time?” Ray sighed softly.  
“Sorry, Ray.” Gerard apologized immediately.  
“Did that idiot just apologize? Mikey, hit him for me.” Mikey did.  
“Our…Ray, all of the food went rancid. The staff is all gone, the guys said that they were coming up from market and they ran into literally the whole staff, all just leaving. They said they looked hollow, Ray. We’re scared.”  
“Can you guys come back to the city?”  
“It’ll just follow us. At least here, we can avoid the witch.” Mikey explained.  
“Oh, guys…Let me, hold on.” Ray cursed softly, pulled the mouth piece away for a second as he thought then returned, “Okay, I’ll go check about taking a small vacation with father. A few weeks, maybe a couple months break to check in with you guys. I’ll call back in an hour, okay?”  
“Thanks, Ray.” Mikey smiled again, leaning against Gerard.  
“Don’t be dumb.” Ray laughed, sounding too fond for his own good.  
“Bye, Ray.” Gerard said, hoping the fear in his voice didn’t transmit through telephone.  
“I’ll be there soon, Gee. Everything will be fine.” He was taking this seriously. Gerard had been almost scared that Ray wouldn’t want to deal with it again, wouldn’t want to put up with Gerard and his problems anymore, but Ray had always been by his side and for Ray to sound that serious...Gerard felt better immediately.  
The line went dead and Mikey hung the phone back up, frowning.  
“Let’s go check the room next to yours, Gee. Alex can help us get it ready for when he gets here.”  
Gerard nodded, stood up and followed Mikey. They both ignored the screaming down every darkening hall they passed as they went to find Alex.  
-  
Ray moved in with them two days later. He only brought a single trunk but it held his essentials and the clothes he preferred to wear out of work. Everything else, he knew could be replaced or was already prepared for him at the new Way mansion.  
“Ray.” Gerard practically dripped with relief. Ray was taller, much broader then Gerard was, and it felt good to have him hug Gerard like he always had. The carriage was taken by Rian (who’d left the previous day to pick Ray up and transport him) to the deserted stables and he took care of the horses before letting them go free in the field so they weren’t harmed somehow locked away in the stables.  
Mikey laughed, hugged Ray tight, and then lead the two of them back into the house.  
“Come on, Ray. We don’t have much for dinner.” He lost the smile, went back to the worried look that had been a near constant on his face since the food had been found, “It’s just bread, cheese, some dried fruit if we eat it before it goes bad. Water.”  
If it had been anyone else, Mikey and Gerard both would have been embarrassed to not have a meal they could show off. Ray didn’t care though, and they both knew it.  
“Sounds great. Something simple is just what I need.” Ray said kindly. They both smiled at him thankfully and the three of them set in the library in front of the fireplace and dined from a loaf of bread, a block of cheese, a bowl of (thankfully still good) dried fruits and a jug of water. Alex, Jack, Rian and Zack had given them the night to themselves while they went to town and talked to the priest (or anyone really) who might have some advice for them.  
“Will you dress up for us?” Mikey asked after dinner had been concluded. They’d eaten all of it, left nothing to rot overnight, and then decided to relax in front of the flames.  
“Mikey.” Gerard frowned, looking around the house, “I don’t think…I don’t think whatever this is would like that.”  
“Please, Gee? I haven’t seen you dressed up in so long.” Ray gave him his puppy dog eyes. Gerard tried not to blush, feeling a warm curl of pleasure in his stomach.  
“I…okay…okay, but only for a few minutes.”  
“Promise.” Ray nodded, a serious frown on his face.  
Gerard laughed, but Mikey stood and helped him up and they left Ray by the fire to go to Gerard’s room.  
It took nearly an hour to get ready but Gerard returned on Mikey’s arm soon enough. He had forgone anything fancy for his hair and just had it pinned up and slightly curled around his face. He’d smudged black eyeliner under his eyes, shadowed his eyelids with a pale blue and added some blush and a pale lipstick. [The dress he’d chosen was lovely, and he knew it was Ray’s favorite.](https://img0.etsystatic.com/000/0/5473165/il_fullxfull.263831256.jpg) It was off-white, accented with snow-white lace and a bright blue that matched his eye shadow. The sleeves fell to his elbow, flared out a little and ended with nice white lacing. The body of the dress was off-white, almost eggshell (that’s what the lady he’d bought it from called it), and was lined with finely patterned leaves and flowers in just slightly lighter thread. The collar wasn't cut low, just revealed his collarbone, lined with lace up on the sides and back of his neck. The skirt was lovely, the top layer the same color as the body and ruffled downwards, the sides of the top layer pinned up to the tops of his thighs and the bottoms of the layer reaching to a few inches above his knee. White lace bordered the bottom, hanging to a little past his knees. The second layer of skirt was longer, a pale white that ended a few inches below the lace. The light blue of his eye shadow showed in the ribbons, four small bows that started at the cut of his collarbone and continued after every two white-stone-in-gold-boarders buttons. There were four bows on the body and a matching ribbon which interlaced through the lace of the first layer of skirt, tying off in a cute bow in the center seam of his skirt.  
His stockings matched the pale white of the underskirt, disappeared under the dress to connect to the garter belt he'd worn. The belt was a pale red, almost pink, and it matched the corset he wore underneath the dress. His shoes were a short-heeled affair, made the soft click-clack sound when they walked on uncarpeted floor, and matched the light blue perfectly. He’d hunted for ages to find them and he wore them only with this dress.  
When he walked into the library, Ray was standing and talking with Alex and Jack while Zack and Rian ate pieces of their own loaf of bread.  
Mikey had offered his arm for Gerard to take, like a younger brother would have done to his sister, and led Gerard into the library, a proud smile on his face that made Gerard roll his eyes but still feel that same curl of warmth in his stomach get brighter.  
Ray caught sight of him first and his smile grew twice as large, into a large grin.  
“Gee, you still look prettier than any girl I’ve ever met.”  
Jack just wolf whistled, which made Alex elbow him hard before he grinned at Gerard too.  
“You look stunning, Gee.”  
Rian nodded, face too stuffed with bread for him to say anything, but he sent Gerard an enthusiastic thumbs up, along with Zack, who was in a similar situation.  
“He looks great.” Mikey agreed.  
Gerard couldn’t stop smiling, not even at the faintly slamming door in the distance.  
He still remembered the first time he’d dressed up, moving up from taking his mom’s lipstick when she wasn’t looking, from perfecting his eyeliner technique, to actually buying a dress in his own size (He told the shop attendant he was having it made for a cousin who had a similar body type to him. The box must have gotten ‘lost’ in post, or so his cousin thought). It wasn’t this dress, but it had been similar in design, though it had a rich green color scheme and more frill and hitches to the skirt. He’d loved it, but he’d grown out of it and had to sell it off when no one was looking. Mikey had walked in on him in his second dress, but hadn’t said a word to anymore, just demanded that Gerard show off for him. Mikey had told him later on, in the dead of night after another of Gee’s nightmares where they curled up together and spoke softly into the darkness, that he’d never seen Gerard look so confident, so easy in his own skin as he had when he’d been wearing the dress. Dresses made Gerard feel pretty, feel like he was attractive, made him feel happy. He still liked wearing pants, didn’t get the urge to be a girl all the time like he’d heard whispers of in the dark places he’d stumbled across in his search for a dress shop that didn’t ask too many questions, but dresses made him feel good. Stockings and make up and lace, the soft fabrics and the shoes all made him feel…special. Like something to be treasured. Ray had walked in on him next, one day when he’d shown up without telling Gerard, his parents or his own parents. Mikey had threatened to beat him up if he said anything to anyone but Ray had just laughed and asked Gerard to dance. They’d danced, and then Mikey had demanded that Gerard dance with him too and Gerard had laughed and sacrificed his nice heels to his brother and best friend, both of whom had two left feet.  
Alex had been let in on the secret next, and what Alex knew, his partners in crime knew. Luckily enough, they had their own secrets (Jack’s hot lips on Alex’s neck, their bodies pressed close together, sweaty and hot between them. Rian and Zack giving each other shy looks over a shared apple, chaste hand holding as they walked in moonlight, light pecks to lips when they thought no one was looking.) and so kept Gerard’s.  
The six of them were the only ones who knew (though Gerard suspected that his mother had been catching onto who had been stealing her make up because no matter how many maids she replaced, it never stopped going missing). Well. His grandmother had known, had bought him his first necklace, ruby red on black leather, a choker to match the dress he hadn’t found for it yet, but her death had brought the count back down to six.  
He missed her so much.  
“Gerard.” Ray grinned, bowed low, offered his hand, “Could I have this dance?”  
Gerard laughed, looked at Mikey, who sighed loudly and said, “I call the next one.” Before he handed Ray Gerard’s hand.  
Rian put on a record, laughed when Ray lead Gerard in a half-made up dance, twirled him at will just so they could all see the pale skirt flare up around his hips.  
They went to bed happy that night. Alex helped him put the dress away and remove his make up early in the morning, after each of them had gotten a dance with the ‘lady’ (as they refused to stop calling him) and his feet were aching.  
The screaming started again that night, but all of them were too tired to react to it.  
It went quiet for a few weeks after that night. Gerard was able to sleep through most of the night, just woke up when the screaming started. Mikey and Ray usually came into his room then and the three of them would curl up under his blankets and sleep, warm and safe together.  
Gerard let his guard down, and that was when the entity, this demon or ghost, whatever it was, struck.  
“Maybe it’s just…maybe it was a onetime thing?” Gerard said softly one day as he and Mikey walked down the hallway leading to his studio. He’d not been able to make it there lately, too scared to go alone but too nervous to ask for one of them to come with him. Mikey had offered to take him though and he’d accepted. He’d stopped taking commissions when the screaming started, scared that he’d end up missing a due date because of the entity, but his sketch pad and charcoal were still in there and he badly wished to hold them again.  
“Maybe, you know…you and Ray, how good you guys are, make up for me.” He said slowly, trying to work it out in his head. Mikey hit him in the shoulder, like he did when Gerard was being especially dumb, but Gerard didn’t take any offense.  
“I dunno, Gee. Maybe it just gave up. Grab your sketchbook and such, it’s chilly in this part of the house without all the fires.”  
Gerard nodded and hurried into the room, went straight for his sketchpad and charcoals, still perched on his drawing table where he’d left them the last time. He held them to his chest, turned to Mikey to say “okay, we can leave.”, only to rush forward and catch his brother as he collapsed.  
He looked him over wildly, sketch book and supplies disregarded on the floor. Mikey’s skin had gone clammy, the area around his eyes darkening a little, making him look gaunt and sickly in the shadows of the room.  
“Help! Ray, Jack, Alex!! Someone!” He screamed down the hallway, hoping someone was close by as laughter began to ring out around him. He curled up over Mikey, felt the darkness closing in on them. He wanted to protect Mikey as best he could, perched his body over Mikey’s head to protect it and held him close while the blackness solidified behind him. He could feel the thing reaching for him, it wanted to hurt him and Mikey, wanted to curl its claws and fangs into them and rip them apart.  
“Gee! Gerard! Mikey!?” Ray’s voice broke through and suddenly the monster behind him was gone and it was just Gerard on the floor, holding his burning hot brother to his chest and rocking him.  
“Ray! Ray, he’s sick! This thing’s made him sick!”  
“Gee, just let me take him to his room, we’ll call a doctor.”  
Gerard nodded, reluctantly let Ray take Mikey from his arms and carry him down the hall and to the left to their rooms. Gerard followed close behind, casting worried eyes behind them the whole time, looking for the monster in the dark.  
They called up a doctor from town and he was there in under an hour.  
It took nearly that long for him to diagnose Mikey, clearing his throat and cleaning his glasses with a clean rag from his breast pocket as he looked at Gerard.  
“Master Way, it seems young Michael has come down with pneumonia. He needs a lot of bed rest, plenty of warmth and heat. I’d say it would be better for him if he returned to the city, it’s much warmer weather down that way. Move him now, before the worst of the infection sets in, and he should make a full recovery, providing nothing worse happens while his immune system is down.” He said in a muffled voice.  
“Of course…” Gerard said hollowly, “Of course, I’ll…I’ll send him to the city. Right away.”  
The doctor nodded, “I’ll send my bill by post in a few days.”  
“Yes, of course…”  
The doctor was led away. As soon as the door shut after him, Gerard’s legs gave out and he fell into Ray’s strong arms, clinging to him hard.  
“Please,” He whispered hoarsely, as if the evil in his house was right at his shoulder, able to hear everything he said, “Please, take him to your parents. Stay with him and help him recover, Ray, please, I’m begging you, take him away from this evil place before he’s killed.”  
“Gee, what about you, we can’t just leave you here,” Ray said frantically, resigned but so scared for his friend.  
Gerard shook his head, “Don’t worry about me, just take him. Tonight, okay? Get him out of here before this monster murders him. Promise me, Ray, promise me you won’t let him die here, not here.”  
“I-I promise, Gee.” Ray nodded, squeezing him in a tight grip, “I promise, I’ll take him away.”  
“Tonight, Ray, tonight, please,”  
“Yes, yes, tonight. I’ll take him tonight.”  
And if Ray’s voice sounded a little hollow, if his arms squeezed a little too tightly, painfully around Gerard, he didn’t say anything because for once, the monster was helping Gerard.  
Later that day, Gerard set the last of his staff (his friends) down and looked at them seriously.  
“Ray and Mikey are leaving in a few hours. They’re going back to the city, so Mikey can recover without this thing hurting him anymore. He needs to leave if he wants to survive. Ray is going with him because this thing is going to attack him next, I know it. So, this is me. Firing you. You no longer work for me. Go with Mikey, protect him and leave me here.”  
“No.” All four of them said at the same time. Gerard blinked.  
“No, you can’t say no. I’ve fired you.”  
Alex stood up, shaking his head, “I said it once and I’ll say it again. We’re here until the end. This thing can try but it won’t get rid of me, not of us. Gerard, we love you and Mikey both. He’ll be safe with Ray. We’re all you’ll have.”  
“But guys, it’s dangerous. You don’t understand.”  
“We understand that at least with us here, you won’t be alone. It can’t chase us off, not for anything.” Jack said, standing as well.  
“Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have some luggage to pack and some food to go buy.”  
Gerard tried not to cry again, just nodded.  
That night, he waved Ray and Mikey off, Rian driving them again with the intention of returning first thing the next morning.  
-  
It got so much worse after Mikey and Ray left. It just confirmed what Gerard thought the whole time. Mikey and Ray were what made the good (what little there was, at least) in Gerard come out and without them, he was just all bad again. Like the food in the kitchen, he was rotten black. Like the mysterious, brown stains that appeared on the once pristine ceilings and corners, his soul was bruised and browned. Like the blood that dripped from the walls, the scars on his thighs once leaked blood. This monster, it was Gerard. It was Gerard and it knew it, was coming for him. The screaming just got louder, woke him up in the middle of the night and continued until dawn, all night. Alex and the others took to just sleeping in his bed with him, taking turns keeping guard while the other three comforted Gerard.  
They could hear the screaming now too, it wasn’t just Gerard and Mikey now.  
Three days after Mikey and Ray left, Gerard woke up to Rian looking at him sadly, the remains of the dress he’d worn for Ray shredded in his arms. Gerard hadn’t been able to stop crying for hours, just clutching the ripped up dress to him to his chest and face.  
Days passed slowly after, the ruined dress had been put in the back of Gerard’s closet to be looked at again when everything was over. If it was ever over.  
“Come on, Gee, let’s get out of bed, talk a walk around the garden.” Alex tried, running his fingers through Gerard’s greasy hair.  
“No, Alex.” Gerard shook his head, near tears, “It’ll kill me. Alex, I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die yet. Not anymore, I don’t want to die anymore.”  
“Shh, shh, Gerard…” Alex soothed, petting him and nodding, “We won’t go anywhere. We’ll just stay in bed, okay? We’ll just stay here and protect you. Rian and Jack can go get food and water and bring it back. I won’t leave you alone, not anymore. You aren’t going to die.”  
When Gerard finally went back to sleep, paler then even his usually paled skin, bruised bags under his eyes and looking as sick as Mikey had before he left, Alex looked at Rian and Zack desperately.  
“We have to help him.”  
“How?” Zack frowned, looking around with his sword in hand as if he’d fight the monster himself for Gerard.  
“I don’t know…” Alex rubbed his face, wincing at the stubble he hadn’t been alone long enough to shave of under his palm, “I don’t know, but we have to do something.”  
Rian frowned, straightening up from his bent over position, where he’d been cleaning up behind the desk.  
“I don’t know anything about demons or hauntings or whatever this evil is.” He said, crossing his arms and resting his chin in his hand as he thought, “But my mom might. She’s always been interested in the occult, she’s bound to know similar people.”  
Jack frowned from the other side of Gerard, sitting in the bed with crossed legs and one hand on Gerard’s back while he slept, “Is it safe do you think? To write any of this down or talk over the phone? What if someone finds it and comes with fire and pitchforks? They already think Gerard is a Satanist, if anyone catches wind of demon activity, they’ll burn the house down with all of us inside. We’ve taken risk enough just talking to that priest in town.”  
“I’ll tell her to burn it, write in code maybe and give her the code over the phone? I don’t know, but it’s our last chance.” Rian frowned again, wiping his hands off on his pants to rid his skin of the sticky brown sludge that had begun seeping from the walls.  
“Okay…okay, do it, Ri. We need help.”  
Rian nodded, set at the desk and pulled a pen and a piece of paper to him and began to write.  
They sent the letter the next day, with a kid from town who they knew needed money. If the letter was unopened when it was taken to Rian’s mom, she’d give him the same amount of coin that the Way household had given him to take the letter.  
They could only hope the promise of money would keep the street rat from breaking into the letter and Rian and Zack returned to Gerard’s rooms quickly, where the master was still too scared to leave his bed. He was barely eating, scared the food would rot in his mouth or throat, and his legs were cramping from the lack of movement but he still refused to get out of bed. He’d come down with a slight fever, all of the worry and stress acting on his body, and Alex was scared. When Alex was scared, the other three knew it was time to start freaking out too.  
For nearly three days, they all suffered in silence, eating only bread, cheese when they could, and water. Gerard got out of bed once a day to use the restroom and stretch his legs and he allowed Alex to help him wash but then the water turned to blood and that was the end of their bathing adventures. Jack and Zack had both gone to the city in those three days and returned the next day empty handed, no solutions found even in the city’s underbelly. While there, they visited the Toro residence to check on Mikey, who had recovered enough to be conscious but was still too ill to even think of returning to the Hell that his home had been turned into.  
On the fourth day, the monotony was broken by a loud, firm knock on the front doors.  
Not expecting guests, it took nearly three repeats of the loud knock before Jack realized that it was not another joke played by the monster but rather the actual door. He and Zack both rushed down, half expecting a mob of semi-polite villagers asking if they would mind terribly if they razed their mansion to the ground and burned them all for signing the devil’s book. Instead, it was three men, two of which held large packs on their back and the smallest of the three wearing an almost blank look on his face as he looked around at the outside of the house.  
One was bright blond, a stoic expression on his face and rough, pale stubble on his chin and neck. He had the bigger pack and was holding what looked to be some sort of rod encased in glass. It was lit up a bright blue, obvious in the dying light of the sun.  
The other, a dark haired man with a big smile and warm eyes on his face held a slightly smaller pack and a box in his hands with a dial, the pin past the red line on the right side and a soft, high pitched noise emitting from it.  
The final, the smallest looking around the house, held nothing but what looked like a recording device in his hand. All were dressed like poor gentlemen, once-nice top coats and top hats now patched up with similarly colored patches on the blond but quite obviously differing colored patches on the dark haired pack bearer. The smallest had no hat, instead wore his hair shoved except for a thick strip on the top, which had been somehow striped of color. He had piercings too, on his nose and lip, and tattoos on his hands and neck.  
“Excuse me.” The dark haired one smiled bigger, “You wouldn’t happen to be the Way residence?”  
“And if we were?” Jack said, eyes narrowed as he took them in. The last thing he needed was a trio of would be robbers trying to steal from his already fragile master.  
“We were hired by Lady Dawson.” He held up Rian’s letter, the seal broken and the page obviously folded and refolded many times.  
“Come in.” Zack said quickly, ushering them in and looking around to make sure they hadn’t attracted attention from anyone. Not that anyone was even on the grounds, but the townspeople had begun to show signs of suspicion what with their daily travels to buy only four loaves of bread a day rather then their usual weekly haul and it wasn’t too out of place for one or two of the young ones to come sneaking around. Or worse yet, for the monster to notice the new guests and take a shining to them. The last thing Gerard needed was these three strangers spreading words around town.  
Zack saw the shadow figure race behind a tree but he didn’t mention it, just closed his eyes and slammed the thick wooden doors shut and latched and bolted them quickly.  
“How did you get that letter?” Jack asked suspiciously. It wouldn’t be the first time criminals had used a stolen letter to gain entrance and kill everyone in the house, he’d read it in the paper only two months ago.  
“Firstly, I would like to introduce myself. I am James Dewees, this is my humble and silent associate Bob Bryar,” He waved his hand at the blond with vigor, and then more calmly set his hand on his other partner’s shoulder, “And this, this is Frank Iero. We, collectively, are Iero Hauntings, Incorporated. Frankie, here, is a psychic, a medium, a ghost whisperer if you will. Bob and I are his humble assistance.” He bowed low.  
Jack and Zack gave each other a glance, both feeling the same ‘too-good-to-be-true’ in their stomachs.  
“Of course…” Jack said slowly, “Now, Mr. Dewees, how did you get Lady Dawson’s letter?”  
Dewees nodded, retrieved another letter from his pocket. It was sealed with the Dawson’s usual letter seal, a present from the Ways for many years of good service.  
“This will explain everything.” He handed the letter to Jack, who ripped it open and began reading immediately.  
“We took care of a…problem for Lady Dawson a year or so ago. She called on us and had us read your letter. It sounds like our kind of problem.” Dewees explained, still smiling.  
“And what, pray tell, are your charges?” Zack asked, resigned to empty quite a few of Gerard’s pockets.  
“Oh, no charge.” Iero waved his hand, “No charge at all. We work on charity. Just room and board for however long we’re here, that’s all we need.”  
Dewees looked unhappy, but much more serious when Jack and Zack both turned their surprised looks onto him, “Yes, charity work you could call our operation. Would it be possible to meet the master of the house?”  
Jack looked uncomfortable, though he’d relaxed when he heard they wouldn’t be milking them for money, “Master Way has refused to leave his bed.”  
“What? Why not?” Bryar frowned, and Jack could then see that his stoic face was much more blank then his actual frown.  
“He…the things that have been happening in this house…” Jack leaned forward, his voice dropping. The trio all leaned forward to hear him.  
“It screams at night…it tells Master Way to kill himself, it says that when he’s alone, it will strike and take his soul to Hell. He’s so scared, sirs. He’s so frightened and there’s nothing we can do.” His voice cracked and Zack pulled him into a hug, nodding.  
“I’ll tell Alex to coax him, maybe if we all escort him he won’t be as scared. He doesn’t deserve this torment.” Zack shook his head, “No one deserves this torment.”  
“We’ll stop it.” Iero promised, face much more serious, “I promise you, we’ll stop this.”  
Jack straightened up, frowning again, “Follow Zack, he’ll show you to the sitting room. I’ll go see if Master Way will come to you.  
-  
Gerard shook his head desperately, “No, Alex, no, I can’t. It’ll get me,” he begged, clutching to Alex’s chest.  
“Gerard, Gee.” Alex cupped his face, made Gerard’s terrified eyes meet his own, hoping desperately that he’d been able to cover his own panic with calm.  
“I promise you, the four of us will walk the whole way together. They’re only a few doors away, in the closest sitting room to your room, okay? There are people here who actually know what to do and all we have to do is meet them. Do you trust me?”  
Gerard clenched his eyes shut, then slowly nodded, “Y-yeah, yes. Okay, I trust you.”  
“Good. Jack, Rian, run and get Zack. We’ll escort Master Way to the sitting room together.”  
Jack and Rian both nodded and then were gone, returning a few minutes later with not only Zack but four swords they’d been keeping handy since the first attacks had started. Alex had made Zack teach him, Rian and Jack how to wield them, on the off chance someone was playing a horrible joke on their charges and tried to attack them.  
Together, they moved down the hall. It was quiet but that didn’t stop Gerard from hunching in on himself. He’d let Alex wash his hair, dress him in the bare essentials for company (pants and a white shirt. He’d forgone the top coat and hat, the outdoor shoes and any of the accessories). He still looked a wreck, dark smudges under his eyes and his skin paper white except for his flushed-with-fever face.  
“Oh dear,” the man, Dewees, said softly when Gerard was escorted into the room. He had a worried look on his face, serious and lacking the smile Jack had described him as having.  
“It’s much more advanced then we’d been led to believe.” Bryar said, standing awkwardly as Gerard, eyes darting around the room to make sure he was safe outside of the safety of his bed. Jack excused himself to go find the bread Rian and Zack had gotten from market a few hours earlier.  
Iero came forward first, offered his hand to Gerard, “Hello. I’m Frank.”  
“H-Hello, Frank.” Gerard smiled carefully, taking his hand as firmly as he could, “I, um, my name that is. It’s Gerard. Gerard Way.”  
Frank smiled, slow and oh so pretty, “I know.”  
Gerard flushed brighter. He was shaking, hard, but Frank looked calm. Calm and determined and safe, and Gerard felt safe as well. For the first time since Lady Edwina had touched his thigh at the dinner table, he felt safe and he wanted to stay next to Mr. Iero for forever.  
“I know this is fucking terrifying,” Alex made a choked off noise at the vulgarity, but it wasn’t like Gerard abstained from foul language either so Gerard wasn’t offended, “I know you’re suffering right now, and that you’re scared. But I promise you, we’ll take care of this shit for you. You don’t have to be afraid anymore.”  
Gerard slowly nodded, the tight barbed wire of fear around his heart slowly loosening the longer Frank touched him. They hadn’t dropped hands yet. Instead, Gerard had clutched Frank’s hand tight and Frank didn’t seem to mind.  
“I…okay. Okay.”  
-  
Frank didn’t look away from Gerard. The demon behind him watched Frank with pale red eyes. It dripped darkness, shadow from its claws, the fangs made of sin poised to bite through Gerard’s neck. It towered over Gerard, one of its clawed hands stretched over Gerard’s shoulder. It hunched over him, it’s elongated jaw resting on the opposite shoulder, one eye on Gerard’s face, the other on Frank. It’s whole body was wrapped around Gerard, it’s long shadow tail twined around his chest and waist, across both legs, dragging behind him like a ball and chain.  
It was terrifyingly ugly, disgusting to look at. But it didn’t scare Frank. Frank was too enthralled with the bright soul it was trying to smother. Gerard shined so bright it was near painful. Frank hadn’t seen a soul this bright since a little bit after his first case as an official psychic. The Wentz case had been a lot trickier than this one, but it was also much more advanced. Mr. Wentz, Pete, had what Frank had thought at the time was the brightest soul he’d ever seen, even ripped apart and tattered like it was. Gerard’s was like Pete’s, so bright and so pure it almost hurt to look, but so beautiful Frank couldn’t stop staring. Pete had managed to defeat the first of his problems (a curse. Darkness was so attracted to the light, wanted to taint it. It was usually a curse, like the one obviously placed on Gerard. Pete had, luckily enough, been introduced into the Occult early on, his parents being Wiccan and his close-persona-friend-Patrick being a practicing witch as well. He hadn’t expected that the curse had opened him up to the supernatural world, that he’d have to deal with more. That was why Iero Hauntings, Inc. had been called. They’d had to deal with a fight between a pack of mutts, a coven of witches (Patrick’s coven, in fact) and another coven of the more blood-eating variety.)  
Gerard though. If it were possible, Gerard’s soul was possibly the most beautiful thing Frank had ever laid eyes on. Everywhere the demon touched was a little brighter, like there was a barrier around Gerard. It was cracking, of course, Gerard was losing hope and constant attacks had dimmed his light, but Frank wouldn’t let that go out. A pure soul, like Pete and Gerard, they were rare. Frank had resigned himself to never seeing one again after the Wentz case.  
And yet, here it was, for him to save.  
Frank looked up, met the demon’s eyes, looked into the depths of Hell, and he was unafraid.  
The room began to shake. The whole house was shaking. Gerard lurched forward with a terrified cry, and then screaming echoed around the room. Candles flickered, then went out, and they were left in pitch darkness. Jack screamed from somewhere in the hall and Gerard tried to shove away from Frank to go after him but Frank wouldn’t let go, just curled over him, shoved himself between Gerard and the demon and began to chant the same phrase his grandfather (the only other psychic living in his family) had taught him many years ago. It was in another language, possibly Latin, maybe Greek, more probably a mix between the two that roughly translated to ‘evil be gone, cleanse this house, leave these souls.’ It was more a focus point for his energy, a way to concentrate his energy in a single place to be used to shove the evil out of his presence. He didn’t really need it anymore, had matured in his powers enough to not need the focal point, but it was always reassuring to his cases, for all that using it too often exhausted him. Jack’s screaming cut off and the door of the sitting room flung open, flooding the first half of the room with the candles from the hallway. Jack gasped from the doorway, covered in small red bumps.  
“T-The breads gone bad…” he got out, “And the kitchen has filled with bugs of all sorts. I’ve been bitten everywhere.”  
“I’m sorry,” Gerard cried out from Frank’s arms, hardly noticing that he was clutching so tightly to Frank’s clothes, “I’m so sorry, Jack, I’m so sorry, it’s all my fault, I’m cursed, I’m cursed!”  
“Gerard, stop!” Alex cried, looking absolutely retched.  
“No, just leave me here to die!” Gerard cried hysterically, “Just leave me and save yourselves, don’t let Mikey back here, never ever let him set foot in this house or near my grave,” he cut off, his voice giving out into sobs he muffled in Frank’s shoulder.  
Frank just stroked his hair, rubbed his back slowly while he looked around at all of the darkness in the corners of the room and the cackling demon in the top most right corner.  
The house was still shaking and the screaming still filled the air. Dewees and Bob had both pulled out their equipment, determined to catch at least some of this activity on record for later review, after the case was over and they had the time.  
The demon wanted to hurt Gerard. It wanted to pick and pick at him until he was nothing, wanted to flay him alive and rip him apart, make him scream. He wanted to consume his soul and turn it black. It and all of its evil little goblins wanted to hurt them all, make them all suffer, but it wanted Gerard most of all. Frank wouldn’t let that happen, wouldn’t let it touch him.  
So he just curled his body over Gerard’s used his body as its own barrier until the room stopped shaking, the screaming died away and the candles flickered back to life. The demon was gone, for now. It wanted to hurt Gerard, but it couldn’t touch him, couldn’t take his soul like it wanted to. His friends on the other hand, them it could touch. Them it could hurt, if they moved to far away from Gerard, if it got one of them alone.  
Rian looked just miserable, helping Alex to slather ointment onto Jack’s skin, helping the burn and itch of bug bites. Zack’s sword was still drawn and he slowly circled the room as if he could fight the evil himself and all he needed was his sword and his target.  
Dewees was serious now. Frank knew he figured it was serious when Frank told Jack and Zack that they were a charity operation. They never took money from real cases in payment (“We always take donations, though.” Dewees would glare at Frank, then turn his best smile on the victim), but now the three of them had finally seen a little of what they were up against, they were ready to fight back.  
“It might be best if Gerard left the house, until we finish up cleansing.”  
“It’ll just follow us.” Jack explained, pulling a face at the stench of the ointment on his face, “If we left, it would just leave with us and hurt some other poor hotel or home.”  
Gerard didn’t react to any of the words, just clung tightly to Frank’s arms, muffled his gasping breathes against his shoulder. Frank kept stroking through his hair, frowning as he thought. It was weird that he was letting Gerard touch him like he was, but his soul was so warm and it was calling to Frank like nothing had before. Frank wondered if his own soul, the only one he’d never be able to see, was calling to Gerard as well, if that was why Gerard wasn’t bothered being so near to him. Or maybe it was because Gerard looked to be at his wits end, like he was ready to find comfort in the arms of the demon itself if it meant an end to the torment.  
“Well, dandy.” Bryar frowned, crossing his arms but keeping the still-glowing rod away from his body. Frank wasn’t quite sure what it did but Bob and Dewees did so he didn’t worry to much. He didn’t know what most of their technology did, but Dewees always said that was why he was the talent and they were the assistants.  
“Hey, wait.” Dewees frowned, “Why does Gerard think he’s cursed?”  
All four staff froze up then, turning to look at Dewees with various degrees of mistrust. Alex looked the most hostile, “That, sir, is none of your business.”  
“Tell them, Alex.” Gerard finally rasped out, pulling away from Frank a tiny bit to look at his butler, “They might as well know. Once they do, they probably won’t even want to help.”  
“Gerard,” Alex began, soft and worried, “Are you sure?”  
Dewees looked more and more confused, so Gerard just nodded.  
“Master Way,” Alex began slowly after a moments longer hesitation, “Master Way is a recovering drug addict and alcoholic.”  
Gerard gave a soft laugh, humorless and sad, “Thank you for your loyalty, Alex. I really do appreciate it.” He pulled away from Frank (and no, Frank would not yank him back so he could continue to bask in his warmth, that would be rude and weird) and moved into the welcoming, protective arms of his friends.  
“I like men.” Gerard finally said, looking tired and sad and Frank wanted to hug him again.  
“I like men, and I…I like clothes. Clothes that weren’t meant for men. I like wearing them.” He wiped at his eyes, sounding stronger, “I…Months ago, my grandmother died. We were very close and she was the head of our family. A few days before he death, my mother invited a friend over, Lady Edwina. She was older, but quite well off. She and mother had been friends since before I was born.” Gerard shuddered hard, but kept talking, “She…she took a liking to me. She wanted me to…to come stay with her. For…a while. I…I refused, absolutely. She kept…kept touching me, and I didn’t want to be rude, but I couldn’t. I didn’t want it.” Gerard bit his lip, looking scared and lost, “I didn’t want her and I didn’t want her touch, so I refused. My parents almost disowned me, they always thought I was…strange. Different. My mother had noticed that I might have been taking her make up instead of the maids, and my father had overheard my brother and I talking enough to know something was…different about me. So, so when I said ‘no’, they grew very angry. Father hit me.” He touched his cheek, frowning a little bit as he thought back, “And then my grandmother heard the argument and she was the only one, other than Mikey, my brother, in my family to really understand me. She kicked Lady Edwina out right then and there, forbid my mother from talking to her again and then told my father if he ever hit me again she’d freeze him out of the family fortune.”  
Frank wanted to touch Gerard, wanted to hug him and pet him again, protect him. He’d barely known the man two hours, but already Frank was…he didn’t know what he was. Gerard was like a siren call to him, and he could just barely resist.  
“Lady Edwina, though…she was. The rumors around the city were the she was a witch, though my mother never agreed. But when Lady Edwina left, she-she said…she said, ‘I am displeased, and one must never displease a witch. Just you wa-wait, I’ll get you in the end, like it or not.’ Less than a week later, my grandmother died of heart failure.” His voice went tight and raspy as he said the words, “And then my parents left on a world tour, they won’t be back for months and months longer, if they make it back within a year at all. It was just Mikey and I, and the staff. We took these four with us from the old house. We’d started to hear screaming, doors slammed on their own, that sort of thing and since we were the only ones to hear it, we thought it was simply a case of… Folie à deux or something of that nature. So we moved here, and it was calm for a while, and then the screaming started up again. And I thought I was crazy, that Mikey and I were both...except…except Ray heard it too. Ray is a close friend of ours and he came to stay with us for a while when the screaming started. He was here and all was calm for a few days, and then…and then Mikey became ill. Ray took him back to the city to recover, away from this evil place and my influences” He sniffed hard, wiping at his tired eyes again.  
“What’s worse, my staff has disappeared. All but these four, who were out at market when it happened. Lady Edwina followed me around without my knowledge and she…spied on me.” He shuddered again, and Frank could feel the creepy feeling of being watched on his skin, as if he was being watched himself. He checked the corners but it was still clear.  
“She learned of my…inclinations in such a manner. And now…now my staff is gone. You must understand, when we moved out to the country, I thought I could…create a safe haven. A place so people with inclinations…similar to mine would have a safe place to live and work without worry of discovery. And now they’ve all gone and no one has heard a word of them since they left. What will I do if my refusal of her had led my staff to harm? Or worse, death?” He looked ready to cry again, Frank wanted to touch him, feel that warmth again.  
And Frank would have, had Gerard’s companions not looked so fierce. Zack looked ready to strike all three of them down where they stood should any of them so much as breathe a word of discontent towards his charge and Alex was obviously prepared to throw them out on their asses with no remorse.  
Dewees threw his hands up non threateningly, “Hey, hey, now, let’s not get hostile. We’re just here to help. We don’t care about any of that, really. We really do just want to help. What you, and your staff for that matter, do on your own time is none of our concern. We just want to rid you of this monster. Okay?”  
Rian relaxed just a little and gave them all a firm look, but Gerard was the only to smile just a little and nod.  
“Of course…Rian, Jack, could the two of you go clean out that rotted food? The bugs should have dispersed by now. Alex, Zack, would you go to the bakers and buy the last of today’s bread? We can have it for dinner. I’ll take them to Mikey’s room, it’s the only one that hasn’t been destroyed.”  
“Destroyed?” Frank asked, suddenly back into the case.  
“Yes, the rooms around mine and Mikey’s have all been ruined. Scratch marks on the walls, ripped up sheets and mattress. So you may have Mikey’s room for your stay since he will be gone for quite a while longer. Are you okay with sharing?” He suddenly looked worried and Frank waved his hands quickly to dispel the worry.  
“No, no, yes, we’re fine. We probably won’t sleep much, at least not at the same time.” He said before Dewees could butt in.  
“Well, then.” Gerard smiled, “Follow me.”  
The butlers all gave the three of them looks, as if to say ‘Try anything and the demon will be the last of your worries,” and Frank was smart enough to believe it.  
Gerard led them down the hall, but the farther from the sitting room he got the more he shrunk into himself.  
Before he could stop, Frank set a hand on Gerard’s shoulder, nodding, “We’re here now, Gerard. There’s nothing to fear, not with us.”  
Gerard gave him a considering look, one that should have made Frank nervous but instead only made him warm, like all of Gerard seemed to do.  
“Y-yes, of course. It’s this way.”  
As soon as Gerard turned around, Bob elbowed Frank in the arm and mockingly mouthed, “We’re here now, Gerard,” with a truly stupid look on his face.  
Frank punched him in the arm and caught up with Gerard to distract him before he could turn around and see Bob bent double with Dewees trying not to laugh loudly at him.  
“This is the only place where I can get a reprieve.” Gerard explained once they’d made it back to the two doors that did not have any stains on them, “I have the Master Suite so my butlers sleep in the servants quarters connected to my room. Mikey and eventually Ray slept in here until the screaming started. Then they’d come to my room as well. The first floor is usually safe, but anything above this floor is off limits for safety reasons, as is the kitchen and most of this floor. My studio is down that hallway but I…I don’t go there anymore.” Frank felt a shudder go through Gerard and frowned.  
“Were you attacked? In your studio, I mean.”  
“That…That’s where it attacked Mikey. He collapsed while he was waiting for me to grab my sketchbook.” Gerard replied, biting at his bottom lip. Frank tried not to get distracted.  
“Also, the basement and attic are off limits as well. Never, ever go anywhere alone.” He paled just a little, “Alex went off a few days ago and was almost killed. So never go anywhere alone, and try not to be stuck in darkness. It…it’s stronger in the dark, I think.”  
Frank tried not to show his reaction, anger and annoyance, at the way the demon perched on Gerard’s shoulder grinned and licked his face. Gerard flinched like he felt the shadow tongue on his cheek, and scratched at the side of his neck where the demon nuzzled him almost affectionately.  
“Try not to interact directly, it doesn’t like that. If it makes a ruckus, it goes away faster if you don’t…don’t react.” Gerard took a hard breathe, if possible going paler when he saw Frank’s eyes sliding too casually over his shoulder, “It’s…it’s always following me, isn’t it?”  
Dewees frowned, looking at Frank, “Is it?”  
“Yes.” Frank said softly, reaching out for Gerard. Gerard took his hand without hesitation and the demon hissed and then slithered away, disappeared, “It wants to hurt you, Gerard. Take your soul. But we won’t let it. We’ll get rid of it before it has the chance.”  
“But, why?” Gerard asked desperately, voice dropping, “Why does it want my soul? What good is a soul as rotted as mine to a demon?”  
Frank didn’t know how to reply for a long moment. Pete had had a similar reaction when Frank told him about his soul. His close-and-personal-friend Patrick, on the other hand, had just punched Pete’s arm and said, “I told you, your soul is fucking bright, man.”  
“Your soul,” Frank started, making sure he was looking Gerard in the eye, had all of his attention, “Your soul is one of two of the most bright, purest souls I have ever laid eyes on in a whole lifetime of seeing souls.”  
Gerard looked confused, disbelieving, “But, but, you must be mistaken. I, of all people, cannot,”  
“You, of all people,” Frank interrupted, “have such a bright, beautiful light around you that the demon cannot touch you. He was able to hurt your butler, possess every staff member in this house and even cause your brother a grave illness, and yet he cannot touch you. Do you understand?”  
“No,” Gerard shook his head, “No, I can’t have. I’ve sinned so much, Frank. In not only Christian reality but in any religion. I have lain with man, I have dressed in the clothe of women, I have lied and abused drugs and alcohol. I have harmed myself and others, I’ve tried…I’ve tried to take my own life,” Gerard whispered harshly, voice shaking, “I have done such wrong. I cannot have this soul that you see, I cannot.”  
“And yet,” Frank smiled, placing one hand on Gerard’s cheek, “You do.”  
Gerard didn’t know what to say to that, Frank could tell, and so he just went silent and they stayed that way, touching each other. Frank couldn’t look away from the pretty hazel eyes in front of him, nor did he want to.  
“Uhm.” Dewees cleared his throat loudly, broke their stare. They both looked at him, one shy and the other annoyed, “It would be best if you and Frank stayed close while Bob and I go and get some base line readings, okay?”  
“Readings? For what?” Gerard asked, curious.  
“Well, see,” Dewees began and Frank laughed and rolled his eyes because Dewees loved to talk about this subject especially, “Iero Hauntings, Inc. is going to write the first ever book on the truely supernatural and paranormal. We’re documenting all of our cases and enclosing them in a book so that we can pass it on to future generations with missions similar to ours.”  
“Which would be?” Bob chimed in like he was supposed to.  
“To fight evil and make sure good prevails!” Dewees struck a pose and neither Frank, Bob or Gerard could keep a straight face. The three of them laughed at Dewees until a soft scream a few hallways away sounded. The demon didn’t like their laughter, Frank decided.  
“That’s our cue.” Bob said, shouldering his pack of recording equipment again. Dewees nodded and grabbed his own pack.  
“Okay, guys. Stay safe, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”  
“That doesn’t narrow much out, Dewees.” Frank smirked.  
“Hardy Har Har, Iero. Watch Mr. Way’s back, stop crackin’ jokes.” Dewees waved his finger at him playfully and then he and Bob were gone, disappearing after the scream.  
“They’ll…they’ll be safe right?” Gerard asked worriedly, looking at Frank.  
“Yeah, they’ll be fine. They’ve done shit much stupider then this, let me tell you.” Frank offered his arm without thinking, but Gerard took it and smiled, “Would you like to talk more in the library?”  
“Please,” Frank agreed, and then followed Gerard down the hall towards the stairs, trying to keep the besotted look off his face.  
-  
Gerard was talking about the rights of women in society. Frank was enraptured. Absolutely enraptured. He could tear his eyes from the man in front of him, passionate and bright. It was the early hours of the morning, Dewees and Bob would be back soon no doubt, and Frank had forgone three different bumps in the night so he could just sit and bask in Gerard’s soul and listen to him. Somewhere in his head, his grandfather was yelling at him for ignoring his investigation, but Frank just couldn’t care because Gerard was talking about the rights of women in society and it was fascinating. Frank had never even thought about half the things Gerard was so opinionated about but Gerard made him want to learn more so he could discuss with Gerard, about things they agreed on and disagreed on. Maybe Frank should have been more worried about the demon lurking outside the door of the library, held at bay by both Gerard’s soul and Frank’s energy. The butlers in the kitchen had retired, as had the butlers who had been sent to get food, Frank could feel the four of them in the rooms above their heads, protected by the charms and smokes Bob had snuck into Gerard’s room and hung up. Frank knew that it hadn’t been actually safe before then, the demon had just been leading everyone to believe that so he could attack them when they were most vulnerable, like the killing blow to a battered animal.  
“And speaking of that, the bullshit, excuse my language, that women go through in the literary world!” Gerard exclaimed. Frank made an appropriately outraged noise, a sound he’d been making variations of throughout the last three hours just so he could get Gerard to talk more about whatever he was talking about. Frank had gotten his chance to talk, they’d already discussed similar interests and things they enjoyed and didn’t enjoy and now it was Gerard’s time to take the spot light and let Frank just sit and feel the glow of him.  
Gerard was funny and opinionated, full of knowledge and care and awkward cuteness. Frank was completely taken in and Gerard hadn’t even noticed the way Frank had been looking at him since he started talking. He didn’t usually take to people this quickly, but Gerard was obviously special, bright and sad and beautiful. Frank wanted to bask in him for the rest of his life.  
“Excuse me?”  
Gerard stopped talking in the middle of his sentence and Frank whipped his head around so fast his neck cricked and pain shot through him for a few second while Dewees smiled at them (And it might have looked normal to Gerard but Frank saw all the knowing smugness, the ‘you liiiiiiike hiiiiim’ that Dewees wanted to tease him with).  
“Oh, Mr. Dewees.” Gerard smiled, Frank tried not to swoon because this man’s face was just as lovely as his soul, Frank wanted to look at him all day, “You and Mr. Bryar are through?”  
“Yes, sir.” Dewees nodded, stepping into the room sans his gear. Bob stepped in after him, also lacking his pack, and Frank held back a sigh, because that meant it was time for business.  
“We made contact,” Bob said, coming to sit on the ground next to Frank. He and Gerard had set up base by the fireplace place when they’d entered the library and Frank had always preferred hot to cool so he’d taken residence on the floor while Gerard had taken a plush chair. The fire had gone out when the first rays of the sun had appeared through the window but by then Frank had been too enraptured with Gerard’s speech to bother moving and possibly distracting him.  
“Intelligent contact?” Frank frowned, turning his attention from Gerard to Bob.  
“Yes,” Bob nodded, “Very intelligent. Something was following us all night, on the ceiling, even Dewees with his weak psychic abilities, could sense it.”  
Frank glanced at Dewees, tried not to smile at the pout on Dewees’ face. Frank was very powerful, but Dewees had his own small store of psychic energy. When he and Bob did their initial investigation, without Frank (who always fucked up the readings with his energy), Dewees could sometimes visualize the paranormal beings around him.  
“Did you get anything else?”  
“More than we’ve ever gotten in a single investigation,” Dewees cut in, taking his own seat on the floor between them, “Screams, the walls bleeding-we took samples, don’t worry. Voices, the works. This thing is pulling out all the stops.”  
Frank frowned, “Did you find the heart?”  
“Yeah,” Bob nodded, “It’s the studio. It’s completely untouched. We warded it off, there’s no way it can get in now. We can exorcise it when night falls.”  
“My studio?” Gerard asked, worried and curious, “It was in my studio?”  
“Well,” Dewees turned, looking at Gerard, “It’s more like, it entered through your studio. You probably spent most of your time there and since it was called here through a curse on you, it targeted you initially because of that. It took an even greater interest in you once it saw your soul. The studio is the heart of the haunting, the demon gets all of its energy from the entry point. So we sealed off the room to it. It’s less active in the day because it uses so much energy at night, but tonight it’ll be pissed.”  
“You need to send your staff away for the night,” Frank said, frowning and playing with a piece of the rug they set on while he thought, “It’ll be too dangerous for them here. They’ve only been safe because they’ve been sticking close to you and walking around in pairs. Demons rarely attack parties of more than one, but this one’s getting bolder. Soon, it’ll start attacking them even in pairs, as soon as they’re away from your protection. It’ll be even worse tonight because we cut off its energy source. I wouldn’t be surprised if activity picked up in the daylight as well.”  
“I…of course.” Gerard nodded, “I want them to be safe. I’ll…I’ll send them away for the night.”  
Dewees nodded, “Frankie and I need to walk around a little, see if we can find anything else that might help the demon stick around once we exorcise it. Bob’ll stay with you, okay? Stick with him and don’t leave his side. He’s no Frankie but he’s not too bad company.”  
Gerard blushed, eyes slanting to Frank for just a few seconds before moving back to Bob, “I, oh, I’m sure he is. We’ll just stay here, it’s too early for Alex and the others to awaken quite yet so I’ll tell them when they come down.”  
Frank couldn’t help but smile, “Dewees and I will be back soon.”  
“Be safe,” Gerard rushed out, his cheek going an appealing red that Frank wanted to touch. The warmth was back in his stomach but it had nothing to do with Gerard’s soul this time.  
“We will.” He and Dewees stood up and then they were gone, out the door. Gerard looked as sad to see him go as he was to leave.  
“You liiiiike hiiiiim!” Dewees sung the very moment they were probably out of earshot.  
“Shut up,” Frank punched him, “You’re a dick.”  
“Ahh, but you want his dick, so,” Dewees wiggled his eyebrows, “What’s up with that, Frankie. You’ve never shown interest in clients before.”  
“Shut up,” Frank repeated immediately, then frowned, “I don’t know. He’s…he’s different.”  
“Yeah, he is.” Dewees smirked, “He probably makes a very pretty lady.”  
“Shit,” Frank’s voice gave out, all the images suddenly flooding his head making him stop dead in the middle of the hall. He’d nearly forgotten, Gerard had admitted to wearing women’s clothing.  
“Yeah, you freak. I knew you’d be into that.” Dewees nudged him, laughing.  
“Shut up.” Frank said again, because he had nothing else to say to that other than an enthusiastic ‘yes, I am.’  
Dewees laughed again and then they were quiet, walking together and trying to sense the demon around them.  
“It’s not just that,” Frank broke the silence nearly five minutes later, “He’s special. He’s smart, and funny. He’s beautiful. I want to listen to him talk for hours, about the dumbest things.”  
“It sounds like you have a crush.” Dewees commented, tossing an arm around Frank’s shoulders, “A very serious crush on Master Way.”  
“…yeah, I think I do.” Frank frowned, thinking about it, “This can’t end well.”  
“Don’t give up so quickly,” Dewees admonished, “Maybe you two are destined to fall in love and live in sin forever.”  
Frank laughed, jabbing him in the side with his elbow, “Yeah, whatever, man. Do you sense anything?”  
“Nah, just like the baseline of evil.”  
Frank nodded, looking around slow and careful. He could feel the demon’s presence surrounding them, the baseline of evil Dewees could feel, but he couldn’t see any of the entities he’d seen when he was with Gerard in the sitting room. They walked around for almost an hour in silence, looking for any sign of activity, but none came.  
“You don’t think they’re hiding from you, do you? They can sense your power and they’re hiding?”  
“That’s not…I’ve never seen anything like that before, Dewees. Entities usually aren’t that strong, or smart…it is weird though. You and Bob got so much activity, they were crawling everywhere when Gerard was in the sitting room, but it’s like they’ve all disappeared.”  
Dewees frowned, looking around, “Maybe because it’s daylight now?  
“Yeah…maybe.”  
Something caught Frank’s eye and he whirled around just in time to see a shadow figure dart around the corner they’d just turned, “One’s following us.”  
“So they are hiding.” Dewees rubbed his face, “This is gonna make us rewrite the whole chapter on entities, Frank.”  
“Only if you want accuracy.” Frank grinned at him.  
“Help! Is someone there!?” Was his reply.  
“…you heard that?” Dewees asked.  
“Yeah, it’s down this way!” Frank rushed off towards the calls for help, trying to recognize the voice from so far away. The voice was coming from Gerard’s room.  
“Hey, you stupid demon! Let us out of here right now!” Yelled a voice that sounded suspiciously like Alex.  
Dewees and Frank exchanged a look then looked back at the shaking doors leading to Gerard’s room. It was banging, as if bolted shut.  
Frank reached out, pulled outwards.  
Four bodies fell onto the ground in a pile, all yelling in shock.  
Alex was on the bottom of the pile, Zack and Jack both on top of him and Rian on top of them all, looking up at them in alarm.  
“We were locked in.”  
“We couldn’t open the stupid door,” Alex cursed, shoving his partners off him so he could stand and dust himself off,sounding remarkably unruffled as he continued, “And no one could hear us. Where was everyone all morning?”  
“The library,” Dewees supplied, looking at the doors.  
“Why couldn’t you open the doors?” Frank helped Jack up off the floor, looking them all over, “None of you seem hurt.”  
“It wouldn’t open.” Rian rubbed his face, looking miserable again, “There was this laughing and then the doors slammed shut and they wouldn’t open.”  
“Laughing? How long ago was this?”  
“An hour?” Zack supplied, crossing his arms.  
“Dewees.” Frank said, dread falling into his stomach, “Dewees, no one is with Bob and Gerard. I assumed these guys would join them and that would keep them safe but a pissed off demon and no psychic energy-” Frank turned and ran, vaguely hearing the five of them following in his steps.  
They rushed to the library, all of them nearly falling to their deaths on the stairs leading to the first floor, and the library.  
“Gerard, Bob!” Frank yelled, slamming into the library doors. They wouldn’t open.  
“Hey! Open the fucking doors!” Frank nearly snarled up at the ceiling, where the demon had taken residence above the doorway. It tilted its head at him, eyes gleaming. Malice oozed from it, dripping all over Frank in invisible syrup.  
Frank slammed his shoulder into the door, ignoring the blood that slowly began from the ceiling and dripped down the wall, like the house was bleeding.  
Frank heard what sounded like Gerard screaming, then Bob, and Dewees was suddenly slamming his shoulder into the door with Frank because if Bob was making noises then some bad shit was going down.  
“Open. Up!” Dewees cursed, shoving with all his might. Jack looked around before he added his own might to the door. The others couldn’t fit and so they watched in terror, more screaming echoing down the hallways around them.  
Frank didn’t know what else to do, so instead of slamming into the door again he stepped back and pulled a small pocket knife from his pants. He sliced into his palm, whispered the right words and slamming it into the door. The demon shrieked and then was gone, into the ceiling and the doors were slamming open hard. Frank’s blood had the same effect on demonic auras as holy objects or holy water and in a pinch he could use it to temporarily rid the house of its presence as long as he didn’t mind the origin of the blood remaining sore and wounded for a little longer then it would usually take to heal.  
The room was in ruins. Books lay on the floor, open wide, spins bent or cracked and loose pages still floating from the ceiling. The four plush chairs that had once set around the fire place were in different corners of the room, two of them in pieces and the other two ripped to shreds. The rug Frank had set on all night lay in pieces, pinned against the far wall by an invisible force. Soot and wood from the fire place covered the floor.  
“Bob!?” Dewees flew in past Frank, looking around for their partner.  
Frank followed him, not looking back to see the looks of horror on Gerard’s staff’s face.  
“Bob!? Gerard!? Where are you guys!?”  
“Here.” Bob’s voice was strong, steady and furious. The kind of furious he only got when he was terrified.  
“Bob,” Dewees’ voice dripped with relief and he and Frank hurried to the corner of the room. A table laying on its side shielded Bob, and a bleeding Gerard, from the rest of the room. Bob stood up, having to untangle himself from Gerard to do so, and clasped hands with first Dewees and then Frank.  
“It started a few minutes after you guys left. A book started fucking floating in the air.” He shook his head, “And then suddenly books were just flying. We flipped the table and used it to try and hinder some of the things from hitting us. Gerard got nailed in the nose by a wayward book and a piece of wood cut me,” He showed the gash in his arm, the white of his shirt sleeve stained red with blood, “But otherwise, we’re fine. We tried yelling, but I don’t think anyone heard us.”  
“Alex and the others were locked in Gerard’s room.” Frank rubbed his face, then helped Dewees move the table away from the corner so Bob and Gerard could get out.  
Bob stepped away but Gerard didn’t move.  
“Gerard?” Frank asked carefully, moving to kneel next to Gerard, “Gerard, I’m so sorry. I didn’t think it’d attack you here, in daylight and with someone with you. I’m so sorry.”  
Gerard just shook his head, leaned forward to hide his face in Frank’s shoulder.  
Frank’s arms hovered awkwardly for a moment and he looked at his friends, then Alex. Alex gave him a hard look and mimed hugging something so Frank carefully wrapped his arms around Gerard and pulled him closer. He clenched his bleeding hand into his sleeve to avoid getting too much of his blood onto Gerard but he didn’t seem to mind.  
“I won’t leave you again.” He promised into Gerard’s hair, the hand not dripping in blood coming up to stroke his back.  
“I hate it so much,” Gerard whispered, just loudly enough for Frank to hear, “I just hate it so, so much. It kept screaming for me to die, it wanted me to kill myself.” His voice broke  
“I know.” Frank said, resting his cheek on Gerard’s head, looking out the broken window, to the green of the lawn and the blue of the sky, “I know. It won’t touch you again, Gerard. I promise, I won’t let it.”  
“I don’t want to die, Frank, I don’t, I don’t,” Gerard cried into his shoulder, shaking his head just slightly.  
“It’s okay, it’ll be okay.” Frank closed his eyes against the glare of the sun and squeezed Gerard in his arms, “I’ll get rid of it for you, and you’ll never have to deal with this demon again.”  
Gerard didn’t say anything back but he wrapped his own shaking arms around Frank’s waist and let himself be held.  
“Dewees, Bob.” Frank looked up from Gerard, face set and hard, “Get ready, we’re exorcising the house tonight.”  
-  
Frank wouldn’t leave Gerard’s side. Gerard didn’t want to be transparent, but he was pleased. He felt much safer with Frank, like the monster (“The demon,” his head echoed with the words) would leave him alone when he was with Frank.  
Though there had been a huge fuss, Alex, Jack, Zack, and Rian had all left the house for the night. They were taking the carriage to town to sleep in the Bed and Breakfast for the night, and they would return at first light the following morning. Before they left, Rian and Zack had gone to town to buy some bread and more water for brunch, since they had all missed breakfast due to the…library incident, as Gerard had begun to call it.  
The eight of them had converged in Gerard’s room and eaten on the floor, quiet and sad but a little hopeful too. There was another loaf wrapped tight and kept in the room as well, to be eaten for dinner by the remaining four, and another jug of water to be left as well.  
“Are you sure?” Alex asked one last time. Though it was midday, Dewees was worried that if they waited too long the demon would lock them inside.  
“I want you to be safe.” Gerard nodded, clutching both of Alex’s shoulders. He’d been a loyal servant and friend to Gerard for many years and they hadn’t really been separated like this since Alex had been hired when they were both much younger, “And that means leaving for the night. If it all goes according to plan, then everything will go back to normal by the time you get home.” Gerard smiled.  
Alex straightened up, tried to mask his upset, “I, yes, of course. You’ll…you’ll be careful, won’t you? No heroics like you occasionally like to do?”  
“I promise, I’ll stick to Frank’s side the whole time. No heroics.” Gerard laughed, then pulled Alex into a hug, “Stay safe.”  
“You are in much more need of the sentiment.” Alex muttered, but he hugged Gerard back tight for a few long moments before they pulled away. Jack threw himself into Gerard’s arms next and clung tight to him before shoving himself away and turning away before anyone could see the tears Gerard knew were there.  
Zack hugged him next, tight and fast but not as emotional as Jack, and finally Rian squeezed him tight and said “If they do anything fishy…”  
“You’re only in town,” Gerard agreed, squeezing Rian back before gently pushing him towards the carriage, “No go, all of you. I’ll see you at first light tomorrow.”  
“Yes…yes, of course.” Jack said, voice shaky but firm, “And if you aren’t in one piece, that psychic better hope we don’t meet in the street.”  
Gerard saw Frank roll his eyes but it was more fond than annoyed so he just laughed again and nodded, “I’ll trust myself to them for the night, until you return. Goodbye, Jack.”  
“Goodbye, Master Way.” Jack said stiffly. Alex nudged him and he deflated, “Please be safe, Gerard.”  
“I will, I promise I will.” Gerard squeezed his hand, “You’ll see. Now go, I’m serious.”  
The four of them hesitated a moment longer before they piled into the open carriage and Rian took the reins.  
Gerard watched them ride out of the drive and onto the road that lead to town. The small ball of dread, the one that was his worry for them, loosened and almost completely dissolved. They were gone, away from him and the house. They were safe.  
Now, if only Gerard and his new friends were safe too.  
“Okay, let’s go, guys. We have a few hours until we’re out of daylight. Let’s get to Gerard’s room before it gets back.” Dewees clapped his hands and grabbed the small box they’d taken from their automobile. Gerard was going to be suitably impressed about Iero Hauntings, Inc. owning an automobile as soon as his haunting was taken care of.  
“Gets back?” Gerard asked, turning away from the faint outline of his carriage down the road.  
“Yeah,” Frank held up his hand, bandaged by now, “My blood acts sort of like, I don’t know, evil repellent.” He smiled.  
Gerard felt his heart skip a beat, “Is that safe? It doesn’t hurt you, right?”  
“Not really,” Frank shook his head, flexing his hand carefully, “It doesn’t take any effort on my part, my blood just sort of creates like a type of shield for a little bit. It goes away after a few hours and I get a little tired if I use it too much, but otherwise, I’m fine.”  
Gerard hesitated, thinking it over, looking over Frank’s face to see if he was lying. He took Frank’s hand and squeezed it carefully, “Thank you for saving me. Us, I mean.”  
He blushed and cursed himself for being so stupid.  
“It’s no problem, really.”  
“Okay, you two, let’s go.” Dewees cut in, giving them both an amused look. Both of them flushed and followed he and Bob. Bob led them up the stairs and back towards Gerard’s room. Gerard could feel the difference in the house without the demon. It was lighter, freer. Gerard could breathe deeply and not feel as if he was being choked with malevolence.  
“So here’s what’s going to happen.” Dewees explained once they’d settled into Gerard’s room, sitting in a messy triangle (because Frank was still sticking close to Gerard’s side, they were pressed against each other and Gerard tried to keep his attention focused on Dewees and not on how hot Frank’s body was, pressed to his) with the box from the automobile in the middle.  
“When the fucker shows up again,” he snapped his fingers, “We’re going to remove the charms and wards in this room and open it up, try to get it here, where it’s influences aren’t as strong, since it was never really in this room. It might try to possess one of us, Bob or me, so don’t trust either of us if Frank isn’t with you. This box here, it’s got everything we need in it.” He reached over, patted the box, but Gerard was hardly listening.  
“Possession? What?” He leaned forward, frowning, “That was not mentioned at all, what if one of you gets hurt?”  
“We won’t,” Bob waved a hand, looking particularly unbothered, “Frankie’ll fix it. It happens sometimes. Whatever. We’re used to it, Dewees and I are conductors.”  
“Conductors?” Gerard asked, unfamiliar with the term. He hadn’t really thought about it, but he was curious as to how Dewees and Bob had come to joint Iero Hauntings, Inc.  
“We, uh, attract the spirits to us, you could say. We naturally channel the dead or supernatural. It makes it easier to exorcise demons and the like.”  
“It’s like a super power. Frankie’s the artist and we are his ever serving mediums.” Dewees nodded.  
“Bob’s a…uh, I guess, he’s sort of a Wiccan.” Frank explained, opening the box to reveal its content. It was separated into two parts down the middle. One was filled with papers, herbs and some matches. The other side had a thick, well-worn bible and what appeared to be a few other religious texts in different languages. There was a small flask, some candles and a rosary.  
“Dewees is a…I dunno, he’s sort of a wheel of religion. He can fluently read all of those books and he’s got prayers down in most of them too. He’s mainly Catholic though.”  
Gerard frowned, nodding hard as he looked at the box’s content seriously, “It’s dangerous though, isn’t it? To carry these things around with you? What if they’re found?”  
“The worst they can do it talk badly of us.” Frank shrugged, “It isn’t as if we cared much. Besides, we use this stuff to take care of evil. The people that really know owe us too much to go blabbing everywhere.”  
Gerard took the hint and nodded again, looking at Dewees, “And you two are positive being possessed won’t hurt you?”  
Bob nodded for Dewees, “Yes, we’ll be fine. The demon isn’t exceptionally powerful. It relies on tricks and such to mess with your head. Besides, we might not even have to deal with that situation. Just know that Frank might have to leave tonight and leave you with us. If one of us starts acting strangely, don’t’ go anywhere alone with whichever of us is being weird. It would be best to lock yourself in the other room and let us handle it.”  
Dewees nodded, “Definitely. Don’t leave this room, not if you can help it. Otherwise, grab one of these.” He picked up one of the papers, “It’s a protection spell.”  
Gerard nodded again, already feeling panic starting to set in, “Okay, yes, okay. I can do that.”  
Frank nodded, squeezing his hand, “I know you can, Gerard. Why don’t we all get some sleep, we have a few hours before night comes.”  
Gerard nodded but instead of crawling into his bed, only a few feet away, he laid on the rug with Frank and they faced one another, curled a little bit inward.  
-  
Frank knew Gerard hadn’t slept, but he hoped that he’d at least rested a little. Gerard looked stressed out, the circles around his eyes so dark they look like permanent bruises and his skin so pale he looked ghostly himself. He wanted to help him, wanted to make life easier for him however he could. Luckily for him, his profession was geared exactly towards what Gerard needed most right now (other than a long, restful sleep and some food other than bread and water.)  
The howling started softly, only a few minutes before sundown. Gerard moved, breaking Frank from his light doze, to press against him and hide his face in his shoulder. Frank wrapped his arm around Gerard, frowning as he listened to the howling. The demon wasn’t particularly strong now, but it was pulling out all the stops to get to Gerard’s soul. The noise got louder slowly, until it it’d climbed up to deafening. It was right outside his shaking door, sitting just outside his windows, just waiting for them to slip up and let it in. Then it was scratching, claws scraping against glass and wood, a loud squeal echoing around the room.  
Gerard muffled the sounds he couldn’t keep in in Frank’s shoulder, tried to fight back the angry tears. He didn’t want this, he’d never wanted this, had never asked for this.  
It’s a monster, a demon, a wild beast trying its best to break through the wards and rip them all apart like it did to Gerard’s dress.  
“It’s back,” Bob said unnecessarily.  
“Let’s set up.” Dewees responded, standing from the floor. He and Bob fully unpacked their packs. They had a few of the new cameras Gerard had heard about, the kind that took lightning fast pictures, and they set them up in the corners, one facing the knocking door and the other by front of the room, facing both the shaking windows and framing Gerard’s bed. Next, they set four box recorders around the room. Frank had explained them in the library the day before, small boxes that had the ability to record sound (and even one that could record moving pictures, “Video,” Frank and nodded,). The cameras almost immediately began flashing softly, a soft click barely heard after every picture was taken, he assumed. Gerard hadn’t had the chance to examine the technology. This part of the country was all for tradition and not many in the city, and even fewer in the country where the new manor had been located, were all that interested in technological progress so Gerard hadn’t been able to see much of the growing advances. He hoped he’d be able to look at them more closely when all of this was over with, but he didn’t hold out much hope that they’d all escape unscathed, least of all him. His nose still ached from the book he’d taken to the face that morning.  
“I’m coming for you, Gerard,” a voice suddenly broke through the howling and scratching, high pitched like that of a child and demented. Giggling filled the room and Gerard barely held back a sob, clinging to Frank to try and hide away from it. He didn’t want to deal with it anymore, he couldn’t handle any more of the torment. It was too much, it was just too much, he wanted his brother back and his grandmother and he wanted to sleep at night and eat something other than bread and cheese, wanted his staff safe and back at home and he wanted this thing, this evil out of his house.  
Frank squeezed him close, tilting Gerard’s head up so their foreheads were pressed together. Gerard’s vision was blurry, with tears or exhaustion he didn’t know, but he could still focus on Frank’s eyes, the green-brown irises.  
“Gerard,” He said, voice firm and brave, like Gerard wanted to be, “Gerard, tell it. Tell it to leave you alone, tell it you won’t allow it to stay here anymore. When we take the ward off, I want you to tell it that this is your house and it isn’t welcome. Can you do that?”  
Gerard nodded, biting his lip, “Y-yeah, yes, I can. I can do that.”  
Frank nodded, pressed their foreheads together a little harder and then he was standing up and helping Gerard up as well.  
The laughter from a hundred nights before finally started up, loud and headache-inducingly in sync with the howling, the scratching, the God Damned giggling and that constant “I’m coming for you,” already swirling around them. Black sludge had appeared in the top corners of the room, slowly rolling fat beads of black down his walls.  
“Ready for the wards to go down guys?” Frank asked, keeping a hand tight on Gerard’s, pulling him along to a paper pasted to the only wall not affected by the sludge. It looked like the kind in the box, but the writing was faded. Gerard assumed that the ward wasn’t permanent, but a temporary thing, any thoughts he could have that would keep him from freaking out more than he already was.  
“Do it.” Dewees nodded, pulling what looked like the bible from the box into his hands and opening it to a page in the middle.  
Bob nodded as well, “Ready.” He had a shallow bowl in his hands, a pile of herbs piled in and a lit match lighting them on fire, a purple smoke beginning to rise from it.  
“Yes.” Gerard nodded, squeezing Frank’s hand hard.  
Frank removed the ward.  
The screaming got so loud, Gerard could just barely hear Frank yelling for him to say what he needed to say.  
Gerard froze up, didn’t know what to say. He’d stayed so silent for so long, he couldn’t think of a single thing to say to the demon. He’d adopted the motto, “Don’t respond, it’ll go away” for so long, it was almost too hard to break. But Frank was looking at him, eyes wide and a little scared but mostly encouraging and determined.  
“Get out!” Gerard finally choked out, just loud enough for his own ears to pick it up. But Frank nodded rapidly, taking his hand in both of his and squeezing.  
“Get out of my house!” Gerard said with a little more authority, a little louder. He looked up at the ceiling and saw the purple smoke from Bob’s bowl. He looked over at Bob, looked at the way he was waving the bowl slowly towards the corner of the room, chanting something Gerard couldn’t hear over the screaming.  
Dewees was in another corner, reading something from his bible, something that made the sludge he was in the vicinity of seem to shrink back, disappear slowly into the walls.  
“Leave me alone! Leave my friends and my family alone!” Gerard shouted finally, loud enough for all of them to hear, for it to hear him.  
“You aren’t welcome here, you can’t hurt me or any of us!”  
Frank nodded again, a big grin spreading across his face. Gerard felt warm all of a sudden, felt like he could do it, could make the evil leave.  
“You aren’t welcome, this is my house and I want you gone! I want you gone right now!” Gerard stumbled, felt like he’d just been shoved hard, but Frank caught him, wrapped his arm around his waist so Gerard straightened up, looked straight into the darkest corner of the room, where he could just feel the evil staring at him, into him.  
“Get the fuck out!”  
And then the room was silent. Dewees dropped his bible and fell to his knees behind them and Gerard turned around, worry on his face.  
Dewees just laughed, a little weirdly but they had just exorcised a demon (maybe, Gerard was a little dubious. He’d been tricked by this thing before,) so Gerard didn’t worry too much. Bob helped Dewees up with one hand, still chanting softly under his breathe, audible in the quiet now.  
He stopped after a few more moments, and Frank continued to look around, like he was searching, “Do you see it?” Gerard barely whispered out.  
“No,” Frank shook his head, “Do you feel like it’s gone?”  
Gerard hesitated, closed his eyes and just relaxed, felt the space around him.  
It felt lighter, freer, like it had felt after Frank had exiled it away.  
“Yes,” Gerard breathed out, trying not to show too much of the relief that flooded through him, made his legs weak.  
Frank grinned slowly, all of his teeth showing. It should have looked dumb, but it just made that warmth wash over Gerard again.  
“It worked?” Bob said, looking around again.  
“I…I think so,” Gerard nodded, “But what now?”  
Frank thought about it, frowning a little, though he still looked ecstatic, “I need to check the rest of the house, see if it just ran away and hid. It’ll be pretty weak if it isn’t gone completely. Bob’ll come with me, Dewees can stay with you just in case, okay?”  
Gerard nodded slowly, still a little shaky from screaming so loud and having it actually work, “O-oh, yes, of course. We’ll be fine.” He smiled a little, “Be safe, okay?”  
“Of course. You too. No leaving by yourself, okay?” Frank gave him a stern look, “Not until I okay the house.”  
Gerard grinned, shook his head, “You could not make me go anywhere here alone if you tried to force me.”  
Dewees moved to start dismantling the cameras and recorders, and he didn’t look up as Frank and Bob made their way out of the room.  
“That…that was rather intense,” Gerard said to fill the sudden silence. There was something a little…off, but Gerard was willing to chalk it up to not having felt anything but that demon for months and months if it meant the whole ordeal was over.  
Dewees paused, but didn’t answer, didn’t turn to look at him.  
Gerard frowned, “Dewees? Are you okay?”  
Dewees still didn’t answer.  
Gerard took a step towards him, frowning again, "Dewees? Is something..."  
The image of Dewees dropping to the floor, his bible falling from his hands, just as the sound had stopped slowly formed in his head and his stomach dropped. Gerard didn’t say anything more, just turned and took off for the servants quarters like he’d been told to do, lock himself inside.  
He was tackled from behind and he barely got out a scream before Dewees had his hands around Gerard’s neck. Except it wasn’t Dewees because Gerard could never imagine teasing, good-natured Dewees to have that snarl of hatred on his face.  
“Finally,” Dewees-no, the monster _in_ Dewees said, “I’ve been trying for so long to get you all alone. None of your staff were conduits, not like the psychics friends. And now I have you.”  
“No,” Gerard struggled, but Dewees was bigger and stronger, the demon was bigger and stronger, “No, get off of me, you can’t have me, no,”  
“Yes,” the demon laughed, one hand shoving Gerard’s face into the flood of his room, “You’re mine now, Gerard. I’m going to swallow your flesh and bones, taint your soul and drag it to Hell,”  
“No,” Gerard gasped, bucking desperately, “No!”  
The demon gave an inhuman growl, a sound Dewees’ body should have been incapable of making, “Stop resisting,”  
“No!” Gerard cried, clawing at the hand gripping his hair, “Get off of me! Get out! Get out, get out, get out!”  
“Stop!” The demon slammed his face into the ground, there was a flash of harsh pain and then Gerard felt the warm gush of blood leaking from his already hurt nose, over his mouth and smearing across his face as it puddled on the floor and his face was rubbed across it, but he didn’t stop struggling or screaming. The dizziness almost overwhelmed him, panic and pain and desperation, but he fought it back like he fought back against the body over him.  
“Get off, get out, you can’t hurt me anymore, I’m not scared of you!” Gerard dug his nails into Dewees’ hand, drawing blood himself. The demon hissed, loud and harsh, sounding almost scared itself.  
“You can’t resist me, Gerard, you-”  
“Leave me alone!” Gerard interrupted, imaging Alex and Zack and Rian and Jack, the fear and misery on their faces; Ray and his worried, terrified looks; Frank and his determined glare; Mikey’s face when he collapsed. He was so done, he was so done with being scared, with feeling like he was seconds away from dying all the time, “Leave me alone!”  
“Gerard!” Frank’s voice suddenly echoed, the door slamming back open.  
The demon gave a terrifyingly loud shriek and then Dewees was shoved off of him. Gerard scrambled away as fast as he could, shoved his back to the wall and yanked his knees to his chest. He blinked his eyes hard to rid them of the blur and finally caught sight of what had saved him, Dewees, passed out on the ground, Frank on top of him and bleeding from a cut on his face. Frank’s fingers were still pressed to Dewees’ forehead, a protection spell between his finger tips and the skin of Dewees’ face. Bob didn’t hesitate to join him on the floor, kneeling down to slap another paper onto Dewees’ forehead and shout something in some language Gerard couldn’t quite understand. Dewees arched up, screaming, and then fell silent and the paper seemed to glow bright for a moment before it went out and blank.  
Frank, still bleeding from the cut on his face, hovered his hand over Dewees’ face, eyes closing for a moment. Gerard watched, shaking, as the two checked him over before Frank stood and walked over to Gerard.  
Gerard didn’t say anything until Frank had set down in front of him, reaching out to touch him. Gerard flinched and Frank stopped, hand hovering over his own.  
“Gerard?” Frank asked carefully, not touching him but obviously wanting too, “Are you okay?”  
“Is Dewees okay?” Gerard asked instead of answering.  
“Dewees? Yeah, he’s okay.” Frank smiled a little, glancing back at Dewees, “He’s used to stuff like that happening. The demon must have possessed Dewees before it was completely gone, but I just did a full reading. It’s gone, Gerard. Completely.”  
Gerard smiled slowly, carefully reaching out to touch Frank’s hand.  
“You…you saved me. You risked yourself to save me.”  
“Well, I. Not really, I mean, I didn’t risk, I mean,” Frank blushed and Gerard, even through the last of the fear, couldn’t stop the slow smile,  
“Still, you…you saved me, even knowing what you know about me. You saved me.”  
“I mean, well…” Frank cleared his throat, tried to stop his own smile and failed, “There’s nothing wrong with you, Gerard.  
Gerard couldn’t help but smile wider, dropping his gaze from Frank’s to try and hide the bright flush of his cheeks, “I…thank you, Frank.”  
“Nothing to thank me for.” Frank said immediately, leaning closer to Gerard.  
Gerard didn’t stop himself from leaning in too.  
 _He’s going to kiss me,_ Gerard thought with what felt like excitement, _He’s going to kiss me and I’m going to kiss him back._  
Frank’s eyelids fluttered, almost half closed and Gerard’s eyes matched. The space between them disappeared slowly, Gerard’s breathe caught in his throat. The air around them grew hot, so little of it left between them. Frank’s eyes drifted closed, one of his hands moved to cup Gerard’s cheek and Gerard’s eyes closed finally. His hands moved to Frank’s chest, clutched his shirt carefully between his fingers, not pushing or pulling, just holding.  
“Hey.” Gerard snapped back, snapped out of the daze he’d been in and Frank reeled back, falling back onto his ass.  
Dewees looked at them, amused but tired, “Why don’t we all get some sleep, Frank can come check on you later.”  
Bob nodded, finishing the last of the packing away, “Yeah, we’re all really tired. You two can…talk after we get some sleep.”  
Frank glared at them over his shoulder and then turned back to Gerard, an uncertain look on his face, “I…yeah, okay. I’ll see you in a few hours?”  
Gerard smiled again, face flushing bright red but still giddy. They hadn’t kissed, but they were _going_ to, before they’d been interrupted. Frank wasn’t running away or glaring or being mean to him, he wanted to come back and see Gerard.  
“Yes, okay.” He nodded carefully, slowly letting go of Frank’s shirt, “I’ll…we’ll see each other then.”  
But Frank didn’t move from in front of him, and Gerard couldn’t stop looking at him. He couldn’t stop looking at Frank and relishing in the fact that Frank was looking back, was looking at him, looking at him like he wanted Gerard, like he wanted Bob and Dewees gone for a little while.  
Eventually Bob came over and bodily lifted Frank up, rolling his eyes at the struggle Frank put up. Frank and Gerard didn’t break eye contact until Bob had dragged Frank out of the room, looking at each other until the last second of Dewees shutting Gerard’s bedroom door closed after them.  
Gerard couldn’t stop a relieved, excited laugh from escaping. He stripped down and crawled into his bed, flushed with relief and what might have been joy, though he hadn’t felt it in so long that it was hard identifying it.  
He slept deep and hard, for the first time in so long he couldn’t remember.  
-  
Gerard was awake long before Iero Hauntings, Inc. Alex had woken him up only an hour or two after sunrise, with a report on Mikey from the Toro staff. Sometime during the night, the illness had cleared up unexpectedly. Mikey was already demanding and begging to be taken back to Gerard’s side, though the doctor had ordered him back to the bed for at least another four days to make sure the illness had really disappeared completely.  
Gerard felt better. Even better then he’d felt when Frank had gotten rid of the demon the first time with his blood. He felt…lighter, like he hadn’t been breathing for months and months and hadn’t even known until he could again. It was amazing. His skin had already returned to its usual paleness, the bruising around his eyes look a little lighter after his hours of undisturbed sleep. He even let Alex help him properly bathe, cleaned his hair and scrubbed his body of the grim of the last few days. He looked healthy again, not the hollow shell he’d been since his grandmother’s death. Gerard felt energized, he didn’t fear for the safety of his guests when he walked to the market with Alex and Jack while Rian and Zack opened up the previously closed doors and windows to air out the mansion. He spoke to the baker, thanked him profusely for having such hardy bread prepared at all times, and then went with his staff to buy food for dinner that night. Something that was not bread, cheese and water. Gerard felt his mouth watering already at the thought of a dinner not consisting of the only thing he’d been eating for the last couple of months.  
“It feels…amazing,” Jack said, holding one of the baskets of food to be prepared.  
Alex nodded hard, adjusting his own basket, “Like a whole new house, Gerard. It was beautiful when you acquired it, but it’s…it’s even more now.”  
“It’s my home.” Gerard smiled, big and bright. He held a paper bag in his own arms, filled with vegetables, wanted to flex his arms and legs after so long cooped up in his own home.  
They made casual small talk, comfortable and, for the first time in a long time, happy all the way to the gates of the mansion, where they were met by a small crowd of Gerard’s missing staff.  
“You’ve returned!” Gerard said excitedly, nearly dropping the bag in his haste to meet the group of ten.  
Their head man, Brian, stepped forward, a look of contrition and upset on his face, “Master Way, I have no idea what happened, honestly. One moment, everyone was working and the next we all just…we walked out. Everything is so hazy, these last few months. I do not even remember leaving, I know I sound quite insane,” he tried to explain.  
Gerard waved his hand hard, succeeding in losing a few of the rounder vegetables in his bag to the ground, “No, no, Brian, all of you, it is forgiven. I know it must be very confusing, but the evil that has cursed us has been lifted. I know that there have been whispers, but no more evil shall bother us from this source and all is forgiven.”  
“Master Way,” A young girl, Gerard remembered her to be a new maid, said, “I do not know how to thank you,”  
“Think nothing of it.” Gerard said firmly, touching her hand, “There are no questions asked about where everyone has been or why they left. If any others return, spread that to them, please. No jobs are lost and no one is being replaced if they return.”  
Brian rubbed his face, nodded hard, “Of course, Master Way.” He took the bag from Gerard’s arms and bent to pick up the dropped foods.  
“Oh,” Gerard bent to help, “By the way, I have three guests with me right now. They don’t need much, but I would appreciate it if they had someone there to help them with whatever they needed. And a payment would be appropriate. I’ll have to gather that later today.”  
“Of course,” Brian nodded, looking nervous but a little pleased, “Will that be all, Master Way?”  
Gerard smiled, nodding, “Yes, that’s all. But, Brian, it’s still just Gerard.”  
Brian bit his lip, nodded. The crowd looked relieved, the looks of distress and fear on their faces nearly completely lost. Gerard remembered how most of them had been at the end of their wits by the time they’d made it to his staff, outcasts and misfits due to rumor or being caught in the act by others. He was glad that they could still be safe with him, and that he wouldn’t have to worry that the demon had caused them harm.  
“Of course, Gerard. Okay, everyone.” Brian turned around, clapped his hands together to get their attention, “The kitchen will be a mess, the kitchen staff here with us will work on that and help Jack prepare dinner. Everyone else will be cleaning up the house and stables. The horses are no doubt in need of immediate attention.”  
Jack and Alex both seemed relieved, Gerard knew that they’d never been good at Brian’s job and both would be glad to returning to their regular duties of helping Gerard and Mikey during the day. No one complained and the group of them made it back to the house only a few moments later.  
The rest of Gerard’s day was filled with welcoming back his returning staff and finally writing a letter to Mikey. He’d stopped communications between the two of them while Mikey was away, fearing the demon might somehow follow their letters back to Mikey and hurt him again. Now that the demon was gone, Gerard let himself feel just how much he’d missed his brother and Ray. He spent a few free hours in his studio, afterwards. He picked it up, though he left the blank ward paper exactly where it was, before he set down in front of his largest sketch book and began to draw. He’d had the image in his head for hours and hours and finally being able to etch it out in charcoal and then in the colored pencils Mikey had bought him for his last birthday was a relief. He feared that if he didn’t get it down, it would escape him and he wouldn’t get the chance again.By the time he had finished the single piece of work, it was nearly the end of the day. He hadn’t had the chance to see Frank or any of Iero Hauntings, Inc. but he had heard that the last of his missing staff had returned from Alex and all of them were safe and unharmed, if a little confused.  
When he finally did find them, they were still in Mikey’s room, packing up the last of their equipment and their overnight bags.  
“You’re leaving so soon?” Gerard asked from the doorway, not able to stop the disappointment from appearing his is voice. He didn’t think he was quite ready for Frank to leave. He wanted to spent more time with him, in the library talking about whatever came to mind, or at least have dinner with him. He knew they’d have to leave eventually, other jobs to do he knew, but he’d hoped they could stay at least long enough for Mikey and Ray to return and thank them properly.  
“Sorry,” Dewees said, sounding truly apologetic. He didn’t look at Gerard, but he looked guilty. Gerard wanted to tell him that he didn’t blame him at all for what had happened, that Dewees himself had warned Gerard and Gerard had let his guard down anyway, but Dewees held up a letter before he could, “We’ve got another case and it’s a few hours from here. We wanted to be there by tomorrow morning, it sounds very serious.”  
Gerard bit his lip and looked at the floor, not quite wanting to see Frank’s face. Maybe he had been freaked out the night before and Gerard had just missed the sighs, “O-oh. Well, yes, of course. I’ll go have the kitchen make up some food for the three of you. And I have payment for you,”  
“You don’t have to!” Frank said quickly, interrupting Dewees’ suddenly pleased grin, and Gerard looked up. Their eyes met and they were stuck.  
No, Frank had not and was not freaking out. Gerard was certain that the feelings in his belly he felt around Frank were mutual.  
“No, no,” Gerard argued, smiling a little bit, “I have to pay you back somehow. All I have is money, food…I have plenty of both and I doubt you’d want one of my paintings.”  
“Could we?” Frank asked immediately, stepping closer to him and leaving the half packed overnight back on the bed, “Could I-we have something of yours? It…It would mean more, to me-I mean, us,” he cleared his throat, “To have something of yours.”  
Gerard felt his face flush again, an almost permanent feeling when Frank was around, and though Dewees was giving Frank an annoyed look and Bob looked like he wanted to fall over laughing and was having trouble holding it back, Gerard carefully took Frank’s hand in his own (fingers mingling for a few seconds, rough tan to soft pale) and led him out of the room.  
“I…my studio,” Gerard said softly, barely able to choke out those words, let alone the sentence that they were meant to accompany. Frank just nodded, looking at him like he was the only thing Frank ever wanted to look at again, a serious job letter or not.  
Gerard led him down the hall until they’d reached his studio, a room he’d left only recently. He regretted not cleaning up the dust that had settled over the weeks he’d avoided the room, but Frank barely noticed. His eyes instead went immediately to the new sketch, left in the middle of the drawing table. It was Frank, Gerard knew, and he knew the likeness was enough that Frank could tell as well. Frank was wearing armor, black and shining though his helmet and shield were missing. He had a sword, gleaming as he battled a fierce dragon, black with pale red eyes and a weirdly shaped face. It was beautiful, big enough for Frank to clearly see the details and small enough to cover and fit into a car for transport.  
“W-what do you think?”  
“I…it’s, it’s amazing, Gerard.” Frank looked at him, eyes wide and awed, “Truly, I can have it?”  
“Of course,” Gerard said shyly, looking to the ground for support, “Though I don’t see why you’d want it.”  
“Because you made it for me.” Frank said, turning to Gerard and squeezing their hands, still tangled together, “I…I regret that we have to leave so quickly. I wanted…to spent a little more time with you.” He edged closer and Gerard…Gerard let him, felt like that moment just before Frank had started to lean in the night before.  
“I wanted to spend more time together, too.” Gerard barely breathed out, meeting Frank’s eyes for a few seconds before he looked down again.  
“Good,” Frank said. Gerard looked up, maybe expecting a little more of a response, but then Frank was kissing him. His kiss was soft and gentle, his lips a little rough but still very pleasant. Gerard did not hesitate to kiss back.  
They stayed connected for what felt like an eternity, before Frank finally pulled away, looking up at Gerard nervously, though his smile was big.  
“Can…can I come back?” He asked softly, his free hand moving to touch the tips of his fingers to Gerard’s cheek.  
“Wh-what do you mean?” Gerard leaned forward, resting his forehead to Frank’s, his eyes fluttering shut as they shared the breathe between them. He could still taste Frank when he licked his lips.  
“We usually take a short break after every five cases or so, for about a week. Your case was our forth, so…so when the next case is done. Can I come back? Visit you?”  
“Yes.” Gerard said immediately, kissing him again, pressing forward when one of Frank’s arms moved around his waist and pulled him closer. Their hands came apart for Frank to do so but Gerard just lifted the now free limb to press against Frank’s cheek, cup his face and tilt his head up for another soft kiss, “Yes, you definitely may come visit me, Frankie.”  
Frank laughed softly, kissed him again himself, “Good, good. I’m glad.”  
He pressed his bodies to Gerard, careful and slow. Gerard hid his face, tried to stop his body from reacting, “F-Frank…”  
“I’ll stop,” Frank said softly, kissing his jaw carefully, “Tell me and I’ll stop.”  
Gerard didn’t say anything, but he pressed his body forward a little too, meeting Frank’s.  
“You should hang that drawing in your room, then.” Frank continued after a few seconds of quiet, of the two of them pressing their bodies together, trying to get closer. Then, Frank was moving them backwards slowly, carefully, until Gerard was pressed between Frank and the wall of his studio, “And whenever you see it, think of me.”  
Frank touched the scarf around Gerard’s neck, and Gerard thought back to how it was still cool outside, the last of winter’s chill biting the air. Frank nuzzled against the side of Gerard’s jaw, pressed a kiss below his ear and brought him back to wear he was, in his own studio with Frank pressed to him, “And I can take this with me. Think of you when I touch it, think of you and wonder if you’re thinking of me.”  
“Yes, Frankie, yes,” Gerard finally whispered back, his hands carding through Frank’s dark hair before he pulled him forward and up so they could kiss again, “Promise me you’ll be safe at this next house and I’ll be waiting for you. Take my scarf, take anything you want,” he whispered against Frank’s lips. He knew it was strange, knew most people would think him even more insane then most already thought him to be, but he felt like Frank was different, special. Like Frank and he were meant to know each other. So he’d give him anything he wanted, as long as Frank came back to him when the case was over.  
“I promise,” Frank smiled into their next soft kiss, fingers lightly tracing patterns against Gerard’s side through the light shirt he was wearing. It got hot in the studio so he’d removed his top layers, leaving himself in his pants and the white shirt he’d worn, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows to limit the coal smudges from his charcoal session.  
“Promise me you will be safe as well?” Frank asked, one hand going to brush Gerard’s bangs from his forehead, “I told you in the library, you’ve been awoken. Your soul will be like candy to the supernatural, more so than it already was. Don’t go out at night, not even in pairs or small groups; keep silver on you at all times, and some salt if you can; wear some religious artifact, be it Christian or otherwise. Okay?”  
“I promise, I promise,” Gerard nodded, smiling when Frank kissed him again, then again and again, just because he could.  
Frank laughed, leaned forward to breath in his smell, “Good. I want to do so much with you, Gerard. I want to walk in your gardens with you and write you unpleasantly obnoxious love letters and kiss you at inappropriate times in dark corners,”  
“I-I want that,” Gerard said just as softly as Frank had, “I want to sneak away from business to see you, and introduce you to Mikey and Ray...I want to meet Bob and Dewees in a non-professional capacity and…” he blushed at the thought that had almost escaped, then said it anyway because here, in this dark room with just the two of them, he felt like he could get away with anything, “I want to invite you into my bed. I want you to touch me, Frankie.”  
Frank shuddered hard against him, their bodies molding together. Frank pulled him down for a bruising kiss, harder than the ones before but no less enjoyable.  
Frank’s hip moved against his own, just a little, like Frank didn’t know he was doing it. Gerard couldn’t stop his own hips from moving against Frank’s, and he bit back a soft moan when Frank slipped a leg between his thighs. He moved against the solid weight against his crotch, hid his face in Frank’s neck. He’d never done this with someone he’d only met two days ago but Frank was just different, so much different. Gerard had never had sex before, and he didn’t plan to change that fact right then in his studio with Frank, but he did want to...touch and be touched. He wanted to make Frank lose himself, if only for a few seconds. He wanted to make Frank feel special. He wanted to let Frank make _him_ feel special.  
“I want that,” Frank said into his hair, voice a little choked, a little rougher and deeper. One of his hands slid to Gerard’s hip and helped him move, the roll of his hips slow and careful. Frank’s other hand moved to his neck, through his hair, clutching it in his fingers. His started to move his thigh against the roll of Gerard’s hips and Gerard lost his breathe, made an embarrassingly breathy sound against Frank’s skin.  
“Ah, ah, Frankie, I…” Gerard stuttered out, breathe hot and panted out against Frank’s neck.  
“Mm…I want to touch you.” Frank said, “I want to feel your skin under my hands and look at you, all soft and pale…I want to see your dresses, Gerard. Can I? Will you dress up for me?”  
Gerard bit into his shoulder, teeth blunted by his clothes so Frank could barely feel it, to muffle a loud cry. Gerard felt himself grow harder against Frank’s thigh and, judging by the smirk Gerard felt against his skin and the way Frank’s thigh began to move faster, the way Frank’s hand led Gerard’s hips to roll and trust faster and harder against his thigh, so did Frank.  
“Frankie, Frankie, Frankie,” Gerard barely panted out, nodding as best he could through the pleasure flooding his veins, “I-I will, I will, you can see them all, promise, I’ll be so pretty for you...”  
Frank smiled, and then the hand on Gerard’s hip was slowing him down, making him move hard but slower, seemed indifferent to Gerard’s loud moan in the quiet room, “You’re so pretty now, sweetheart.”  
Frank kissed his jaw again, nipped his ear and sent Gerard’s already mushy mind reeling, “I want to see you all dolled up, Gerard. I want to see you in those skirts the ladies wear in town,” he whispered his next words, barely a sound into Gerard’s flushed red ear, “I want to lay you on a bed, make love to you like a lady deserves.”  
Gerard cried out loud, tried to move faster, couldn’t due to Frank’s hand tight on his hip, “Frankie, please, please, I’m so close, not much longer, please, whatever you want, just please, please,” he pleaded, head rolling back and forth against the wall as the feeling in his groin and stomach overwhelmed him.  
“I want to hold you to the wall, like this, hike that pretty dress up against your thighs or waist…” Frank gasped into Gerard’s ear softly, his own hardness rolling into Gerard’s thigh, “I want to rip up your stockings, pull the pretty panties you’d be wearing off…I want to take you and treat you like you’re no lady at all.”  
Gerard shouted, his nails digging into the skin of Frank’s scalp as he arched against his thigh, finally able to work his hips hard and hard. He shook with his impending orgasm, but Frank just watched smugly, licked his now free hand and slipped it into Gerard’s pants. His wet palm cupped Gerard’s erection, curling his fingers so that the head slipped between his the middle two and rubbed hard against his thumb with each thrust upwards, “Smear your make up all over your face, mess up your hair…I’d call you my pretty lady while I made you hold up your skirts so I could touch you like I am now.” Frank kissed him hard, their tongues finally meeting, wet and messy.  
“Want that, Gerard?” he waited for Gerard’s desperate nod, “Show me how much.”  
Gerard came.  
He was loud, moaning and crying out until Frank kissed him again, hard, and swallowed up each sound until it was over, his hand still striping up and down over Gerard’s pulsing dick.  
“Frankie, Frankie,” Gerard nearly sobbed out when he was through, his hips still pulsing a little, twitching in Frank’s relentless grip. Finally, Frank’s hand stopped moving, just rested against Gerard’s spent dick until Frank finally pulled it out and looked around for somewhere to wipe Gerard’s release off.  
Gerard didn’t think or hesitate, just leaned forward and licked his hand clean while one of his own hands slid into Frank’s pants.  
“Oh my fucking God,” Frank gasped out at the sight, before he curled up against Gerard and came after only a few pumps of Gerard’s fist, muffling his own cry into Gerard’s shoulder while he moved his hips roughly against the loose palm of Gerard’s hand.  
They gasped together, warm and safe and secret in Gerard’s studio and Gerard felt pleased, content and sleepy.  
Frank pulled away first, eyes still dark and hazy, but he fixed his own clothes, then righted Gerard’s. Gerard smiled, still a little orgasm dumb, and ignored the tacky wetness of his release in his pants. It was worth it.  
Frank just grinned up at him, orgasm loose and giddy like Gerard, and kissed him. Gerard just giggled and kissed back.  
-  
Frank, Dewees and Bob; Iero Hauntings, Inc. left a few hours later. Gerard had demanded Dewees accept a few hundred dollars in payment (and how Dewees had cordially accepted, Frank just rolled his eyes because Dewees’ pursuit of money was never ending). Frank himself had come away with a purposefully faded-red scarf around his neck (“It’s pink, you fruitcake,” Dewees laughed at him later, but he was just jealous because Frank was going to get some after their next case).  
Frank refused to drive, so he situated himself in the back seat of the automobile (and wow, Gerard had had a field day looking it over before they left. Being so out in the country, in a region that hated technology so much, must have been quite terrible and Frank got to enjoy watching the awe and wonder on Gerard’s face, so he wasn’t complaining) with the basket of food Gerard’s kitchen had prepared for them and the box of Bob and Dewees’ supplies. He got to watch Gerard, Alex, Jack, Rian and Zack in the front doorway and wave at them as they turned onto the road leading to their next case.  
Gerard waved from his place, and Frank could still make out the flush of his cheeks and the wide grin on his lips from the gate, until they were out of sight. Frank just ignored the four knowing looks his butlers were sending them, exhausted though they were. One was never too tired to lord embarrassing information over their friend, even loyal butlers such as them, and walking in on Frank and Gerard only a few moments after their impromptu meeting in Gerard’s studio was just such information.  
Frank felt that when Gerard’s brother and friend returned to the mansion in a few days, they would be in for quite the scandalous gossip. Frank couldn’t wait to come back, to see Gerard, even if it meant having to deal with those annoying looks or overprotective brothers and friends.  
Gerard was worth it.  
“Hey, Iero,” Bob rolled his eyes, turning to look at him, “Stop mooning over him, you’ll be back in a few days, tops.”  
“Shut up, Bob,” Frank said, though he couldn’t stop his stupid grin, and so could not work up the proper amount of venom.  
“He’s just excited,” Dewees laughed, from the driver’s seat, “that he’s finally found someone stupid enough to court a medium.”  
Frank laughed again, still too giddy to rise to the teasing, “Maybe you’re right, Dewees. Maybe you’re right.”  
Frank laid down in the back, stretched his limbs out, and relaxed into the trip. He’d be back home soon, into that bright, warm soul and Gerard’s glowing smile.  
He couldn’t wait.

**Author's Note:**

> did i warn you it was dumb or what?


End file.
